


Looking Forward to Tomorrow

by snowyfoxpaws



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Future, Alternate Universe - Human, Language Barrier, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-23
Updated: 2014-06-05
Packaged: 2018-01-16 17:06:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 37
Words: 50,284
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1355116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snowyfoxpaws/pseuds/snowyfoxpaws
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After waking from a cryogenic freeze, Arthur is now the only living alpha in a future where he's held as the key to saving the human race. His mate has been selected for him: Alfred, the reluctant omega prince of a land heavy with political turmoil. </p><p>Despite their circumstances, the two try to make the best of a bad situation.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Awake

**Author's Note:**

> Story originally posted on Hetalia Kink Meme.

Cryopreservation had been an infantile science when Arthur had volunteered to undergo it as one of the very first human subjects. He was an alpha, unmated, and had an incurable disease which would claim his life in a little over five years. The agreement had been largely win-win. He could be a subject of experimentation for the past and future and in return he might survive to a time period where his disease could be cured. He had no known family that cared for him, no close friends, and no potential lovers. As he sat at death's door as it were, he was the perfect candidate.  
  
The thing about being cryogenically frozen, however, was that no one could really tell you what to expect when you woke up. In fact, he'd gone into the procedure thinking that, at worst, this was a rather gentle suicide.  
  
So when he blinked open his eyes for the first time in who-knows-how-many years, it took him by surprise. The tube-like machine he was in beeped erratically, yet he couldn't see anything beyond the frosted glass that was set in front of his face. His limbs felt weak and numb, but there didn't seem to be any muscular atrophying, which he was surprisingly grateful for.   
  
He couldn't move to press the door open, which left him with no other option but to wait, while beyond the glass he could hear nothing. It was eerie and uncomfortable, but as he'd only been tolerating this disconnectedness for a good five minutes or so--internal clock, always running--he didn't have much room to complain. Then came muffled noises on the outside and what sounded like voices. His ears pricked as he listened for some clue as to what they might be saying, but all he could really gather was the tone. It sounded... not so much hostile as panicked. He wasn't sure what to think about that.  
  
Suddenly some kind of latch clicked and his door slid open slowly, a gentle, icy steam spilling forth into the room. Before he could even see, he managed to get past his nerves and take a hesitant breath. The air stung his lungs, but it wasn't too toxic or different as to cause him pain or be unusable, which was something he found great relief in.  
  
Arthur wasn't sure what he had been expecting, but if he had to guess it would have been a room full of scientists and... a room full of scientists it was.  
  
They stared at him and he stared at them back, both mute with obvious surprise. They looked... different. Arthur couldn't place why but it was just the sort of feeling one might encounter from being dropped into a cultural unknown. Little things, like clothing and how hair was worn... it was simply different. Everything was different. He felt oddly alien in comparison and from the looks on their faces it seemed that wasn't too far off from the truth. Shouldn't they have been used to this sort of thing, if they were the future?  
  
He blinked and that motion appeared to snap some of the individuals out of their stupor. A woman approached him, a tablet device of some sort in hand. She tapped some things he couldn't see and looked at him before speaking in a language he didn't know.  
  
Frowning, Arthur gave a meek, "Pardon?"  
  
Another person said something to the first and they stared at him for a moment before orders were barked to a third scientist who promptly left the room. The woman carefully approached him and that's when Arthur could smell it-- the sweet, lulling of an omega. Times had certainly changed if she was working as a scientist.  
  
When she carefully grabbed his elbow with a gloved hand and ushered him out, he stepped forward on unsteady feet, the strange tiling feeling absurdly warm under his bare toes. The clothing he'd been frozen in was sparse-- a simple pair of figure-fitting shorts made of some material that wouldn't degrade, cut off circulation, or chafe. The scrawling, black alpha birthmark sat as a dignified A just below his left collarbone and it seemed to be the focus of many in the room who, as Arthur became aware of, were all... omegas...  
  
He had no idea what to make of this.  
  
They led him out of the room to what appeared to be a large, glass-walled cage, and although he wanted to protest there was not much he could do if he were to. He silently accepted this, sitting down on an equally clear bench that was nestled against one of the walls of his enclosure. He noted a small room off to the side of the tank that appeared to contain a toilet, but the walls of that were opaque much to his relief. So privacy was something they were willing to afford him? That was good...  
  
The scientists stared at him through the glass like he were an animal in a zoo and, really, he couldn't entirely blame them. He was from the past, although how far back into the past he wasn't sure. It felt like pretty bloody _far_ though from the way more figures came in to gawk at him. He couldn't smell them through the glass but from sight alone he wagered the omegas from earlier... some betas... maybe an alpha or two? It was incredibly difficult to tell.  
  
He knew from what he remembered that food right after he woke was a bad idea. His stomach wouldn't be able to handle it until he could actually feel hunger again, which he had long ago been told would be awhile. So, content to sit there and be gawked at he... sat there and was gawked at.  
  
The initial crowd died down as people presumably went back to work, but there was always a few lingering about, writing things down on strange tablets and tapping at things in the air that only they could see.  
  
After a few hours of this, Arthur grew bored and he wondered if it had shown on his face since the scientists hurried in a man who looked particularly out of breath. He was dressed differently from the scientists, who had a variation of medical-like garb, and Arthur stared at him intently, trying to figure out this era's sense of fashion. He had on pants that seemed to become his boots and a large shirt that reminded Arthur of something from Japan. It had sleeves that were longer on the ends, which was both absurd and elegant at the same time. There were some dangling, ribbon-like parts and it was pink, which threw him off slightly.  
  
The man was ushered in Arthur's direction and when their eyes met he couldn't help but feel amusement rise in him as the other stopped. The lad was blond, blue-eyed, and completely awestruck.  
  
Arthur laughed slightly, a sound which seemed to be novel to the scientists, who looked at him.  
  
What happened next was not quite what Arthur had expected, but then again he really didn't have any precedent for what to expect. They opened the door and in was shoved Mr. New Guy, a fellow who seemed to be even younger than he was, if only by a few years. Arthur stared at him, expecting needles and blood tests or something of that ilk.  
  
However the boy just stared at him and as Arthur stared back he picked up the scent of an omega, much to his surprise. He'd have truly pegged this boy as something else entirely on sight, but omega...?  
  
The omega looked as though he were steeling himself.  
  
"Hello. I am Alfred F. Jones." The omega said, holding out a hand. His accent sounded American but a little... wonky.  
  
Arthur felt a ripple of shock and stood, the action making the omega shrink back. Arthur hesitated, and held out his hand as though trying to communicate that he was just returning the gesture. Alfred relaxed and cautiously leaned forward to shake his hand. The omega's hand felt indescribably warm.  
  
Sitting down again, Arthur went to speak but Alfred beat him to it.  
  
"You speak English, correct?" The omega asked.  
  
"Yes." Arthur said, studying the surprised but joyful expression that consumed the man's face. His throat felt slightly strange from disuse, but he soldiered on. "My name is Arthur Kirkland. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Alfred."  
  
Alfred looked like he was doing a little cheer to himself, speaking words Arthur couldn't understand for a moment before focusing his attention on him again. "I study archaeology and dead language." Alfred said. "You are only person to exist now that speak it natively."  
  
That... wasn't quite what Arthur had wanted to hear. He felt vaguely nauseous. "Is... that so?"  
  
"Yes." Alfred said, looking much more enthused than Arthur felt right now. "You are very special, English-speaking alpha, Arthur."  
  
A flicker of a thought crossed Arthur's mind and he looked at Alfred with a welling sense of alarm. "You're an omega, lad?"  
  
A look of confusion crossed Alfred's face but whatever it was he seemed to move past it as he responded with, "Yes, I am."  
  
"And they," he pointed to the room outside his cage, "are omegas too?"  
  
"Yes. Time is very different now, see." Alfred said, seeming to realize that some things needed explaining. "All omega, no alpha."  
  
Arthur felt air catch in his throat. "W- what do you mean... _no_ alphas?"  
  
"Alpha has been extinct for over one hundred years. You are only one that exist today. You are very special." Alfred explained, watching Arthur for his reaction. There was a glazed look in the omega's eyes, however, that prodded the alpha's curiosity.  
  
"So... you have never met an alpha before?"  
  
Alfred shook his head. "No one has. No one alive has known an alpha."  
  
Which meant that none of these omegas even knew what an alpha's pheromones were like or what having an alpha mate while in heat was like or... or really _anything_. "Why am I here?" Arthur asked.  
  
Luckily Alfred seemed to understand that that was not an existential question. "You are only frozen alpha. Very expensive to obtain. They want to study you."  
  
Well of course they wanted to study him but, "What else?"  
  
"'What else'?" Alfred repeated. "What else... I do not know." That felt strangely like a lie from the way the omega avoided his gaze for a few moments. His scent was uneasy, which didn't help. "I am... only here to speak to you. I am one of few who know this language."  
  
He didn't know it very well, but Arthur had to give him credit. "You're not a scientist?"  
  
"Not like them, no." Alfred said.  
  
Arthur felt his mouth go dry. "Do you... know what they intend for me?"  
  
There was a flash of something in Alfred's eyes and he flushed a soft red, which seemed somehow uncharacteristic. "They want you to mate prince omega. Become mates and make more alpha. Society is not good without alpha. Not bad but... we struggle. Want more alpha to to have as mate. Rebuild. Repopulate."  
  
"... Oh."  
  
This was most certainly not the future Arthur had expected.


	2. Cure

Conversation between Arthur and Alfred had died out shortly after the omega had given him the bad-- _good?_ \--news. The scientists in the room had urged the other man to leave, seemingly chattering on about this or that and from the look on Alfred's face it appeared he wasn't very pleased with whatever it was that they had said. Arthur had watched curiously as the blue-eyed boy spared him another longing glance before he departed. He imagined that just as he was a subject of study for the scientists, he most certainly was one for the archaeologist.  
  
It was kind of a funny thing, that.  
  
A few blood tests were run after that, as he had predicted, and they wheeled in a trolley full of food just as he was beginning to feel the onset of hunger. It was like they had read his mind.  
  
The spread was a little perplexing. Some of the food looked completely organic but entirely alien. Other items were presented in forms he was familiar with but tasted completely foreign. Eventually he found the grape-looking items were, for all intents and purposes,  _actual grapes_ , and he ate them slowly to cherish the taste of something familiar. He could tell that they found this fascinating, but he was beginning to grow weary of watching them stare at him with those intense, analytical eyes.  
  
Eventually he began to feel fatigued, but just as he was considering going to sleep another omega came into his enclosure and gave him a shot of... something. Whatever it was, it knocked him the hell out and the next thing he knew he was set up on a very soft, but strange, cot. A glance informed him that he was still--or once again--in his little cage.  
  
"How do you feel?" Asked a voice, and Arthur turned his head to see Alfred sitting on the bench, tapping eagerly at his tablet-thing. He was wearing those same strange pants that turned into... boots... but the shirt was different. It was an elegant red with some patterning he didn't recognize, but, just like the other shirt, this one also clung to his body in an airy, loose manner.  
  
A second of thought to the question and Arthur groaned, "Like utter shite, really..."  
  
Alfred stared, brow furrowing. "I do not know this word." He replied, looking frustrated by that fact.  
  
It was likely a good thing that he didn't, and Arthur cleared his throat. " _Bad_. I feel bad." He explained.  
  
"Oh. Yes." Alfred was tapping down things frantically on his device now. Note-taking? "Your agreement was cure to--," the words the omega spoke slipped into that foreign language again. It took Arthur a moment to realize that the other had asked him a question and even then he could only just tell from the expectant look that held on his face.  
  
"... My agreement was _a cure_ , yes." Arthur said simply. "I wish to not die while in my youth, if possible."  
  
Alfred looked relieved. "You are cured of what you suffered. There were many things, but these doctor are best. You are _very_ healthy now."  
  
Wait. Really? Already?  _Just like that?_  
  
In his surprise, Arthur moved to sit up, but he felt his head spin from wooziness and the omega was on his feet and pressing Arthur's shoulders back to have him lie down again. The scent was calming and the alpha stopped thinking as he caught Alfred's hand and pressed it to his nose, inhaling.  
  
When his eyes fluttered open-- _when had they closed?_ \--he saw the scarlet face of a very flustered archaeologist. The omega didn't move his hand, but Arthur was not some crude beast and he released it, also feeling embarrassed. "Sorry-- that was-- I..." He couldn't believe he had done that. His face was beet red now, he could tell from the heat.  
  
Alfred was watching him, eyes searching for something. It struck Arthur that for the first time he realized that the boy was wearing glasses... The frame was so thin he could just barely see them. "You..." The omega struggled to find the right words. "You like omega?"  
  
That was a rather humorous question. Arthur gave him something of a look. "You like alphas?" He countered.  
  
A nervous laugh. "I have never met one before." Alfred was shying away now, moving to sit on the bench.  
  
"How do I make you  _feel_?"  
  
The reaction that won was like that of a school girl told to confess a crush. Alfred mumbled things in that other language, which appeared to be what he did whenever he was exceptionally excited or nervous. "You make me feel... strange." Alfred frowned. "Warm. _Drunk_."  
  
Oh good, they still had alcohol in this time period. He was beginning to suspect he'd make good use of it.  
  
Yet... omegas were typically more picky than that. They didn't exactly just fall for the first alpha they met. Perhaps he just happened to be Alfred's taste or perhaps these omega really  _weren't_  picky at all. It's not as though they had a selection from which to choose.  
  
Arthur decided to change the subject for now. "How long will I be kept here?" He asked, studying the patterns on the glass ceiling.  
  
The omega seemed slightly disappointed at the shift in conversation, surprisingly, but it was a momentary thing before excitement resurfaced. "Oh... Some days. Need observation to make sure you do not decline in health suddenly."  
  
"And then where will I go?"  
  
"To palace."  
  
"Palace?" Arthur asked, looking surprised.  
  
Alfred fiddled with his tablet. "Yes... You have no choice. You will go to palace and you will be alpha of omega prince." The blue-eyed boy looked up at him. "Does that bother you?"  
  
He was being thrust upon some throne as a breeding mate for an omega and likely would have himself a royal position in the process... but yes. It sort of _did_ bother him. He had spent most of his life alone. He didn't know how to feel about being this... this  _important_. He didn't have the self-worth to really feel it was deserved.  
  
The omega looked nervous about his answer, so Arthur changed the subject again, "What is this prince like?"  
  
That visibly caught Alfred off guard. He hesitated. "He... is okay." A shrug.  
  
The silence between them stretched. It seemed Alfred didn't want to talk about it from the way he was avoiding his gaze now. Perhaps he was jealous?  
  
"Just... okay?" Arthur prodded. If he was expected to mate the guy, he sort of wanted to know what he was getting himself into... so to speak.  
  
"He doesn't want to be mated." The words tumbled our of Alfred's mouth all at once and it took Arthur a moment to process them.  
  
"Is that... so?"  
  
Alfred looked defensive. "Are you disappointed?"  
  
Disappointed? No... Not really. It was honestly unsurprising that even in this time period he was unwanted. So he could be the last alpha alive and even then he would be rejected?  
  
What a cruel life he lived.  
  
The omega was staring at him. Arthur shook his head.  
  
"You are study program. Not mate." Alfred asserted and Arthur wondered just where he was gathering the authority from.  
  
... So he was a pet, then.   
  
"I see." Arthur said, wondering if this future was really worth the extra years of his life. If this turned sour, he didn't have early death as an out... Well, not unless he sought it out, of course, which he wasn't all that eager to do.  
  
Alfred seemed particularly bothered by their conversation today, so it didn't phase Arthur all that much when the omega rose to his feet and gave him a curt goodbye before leaving on heavy heels.


	3. Home

It took nearly a day before Arthur could move from his cot bed without a great deal of pain. When he did manage to get out of it himself, he was extraordinarily surprised to see the thing was simply floating at level. If he pressed down on it, it gave resistance, but drawing his hand underneath he was certain there was nothing holding it up. Intrigued by this discovery, he spent his time just poking at the bits and looking it over, although he never quite figured out how it worked.  
  
He was long past finding the scientists who studied him amusing or even interesting. They reacted to his curiosity like a small girl might to a kitten playing with yarn, but it had grown old and he couldn't find the energy to care.  
  
Looking inside the opaque box portion of his enclosure--he'd been in it before, obviously, for washroom purposes, but he'd never really  _looked_ at it all that closely--Arthur realized there was a shower behind what he had thought to be a wall. Of course he was still in those uncomfortably form-fitting shorts from earlier, but although they felt clean he still felt kind of grimy. They hadn't exactly given him deodorant or anything of that sort...  
  
The shower here was just as complex and mysterious as one from his era, but he eventually pulled the right levers and turned the right knobs and it spat to life with perfectly steamy water. Slipping off the shorts and folding them neatly, he stepped inside and, for the first time, realized how grateful he was for the privacy. For once, the eyes of every person he'd ever met in this era were not on him and he felt a heavy fatigue fall over him.  
  
Everyone he had ever known was dead. His brothers... as much as they had hated him... His old acquaintances... Everyone... Even the little old lady who had lived next door and brought him sweets every now and then...  
  
He forced back the terror that wanted to seize him and pushed that thought away. Instead he focused on vigorously washing himself with what he hoped was the right soap for the right job. It almost appeared that it was deliberately set up to be familiar to him, but that seemed unlikely. Still, once he felt he'd done all he could, there was a sense of relief to it. He was clean. This was a good first step.  
  
Opening the shower door, Arthur had not been expecting Alfred to be standing in the entrance to the little room, door hinged open as he held a bundle of clothing in his arms. Alfred, likewise, had not expected to see him.  
  
Embarrassment took a backseat to confusion... up until the point where Alfred's face turned a deep red and he muttered something unintelligible, eyes darting to look at Arthur's lower body and away again as though he were fascinated and yet mortified by that.  
  
Arthur suddenly felt his face turning red and he pulled the door back to give himself some decency as he sputtered, "D- do you  _mind_?"  
  
That seemed to wake Alfred up from his stupor because he exclaimed something in that other language before dropping the clothing in a heap and exiting the room. The door shut with an automatic click.  
  
After a few moments, Arthur sighed and stepped out. There was a bit of cloth that seemed like a towel, so he used it to dry himself as well as he could before inspecting the pile of clothing on the floor. It seemed Alfred had brought him some alternative garb...  
  
Well, he couldn't see the harm in wearing it. He was tired of feeling exposed in his little shorts.  
  
Examining it, he found the black material to be the same pants-that-become-boots that Alfred wore. It was true, too, they really were just pants that ended it this kind of rubber-like bottomed boot. It looked pretty intense for someone in a laboratory, but he tried to slip it on and despite how it looked too big... it fit.  
  
He could have _sworn_ it was too big. Perhaps it had adjusted to his foot? Either way, while the clothing clung to his ass like nobody's business, it did give him a lot more presentability in the front. And the boots felt simply divine as though two fluffy clouds were holding his feet in a loving embrace.  
  
Lifting up the shirt, he saw it was forest green and had the same airy quality as Alfred's. Slipping it on, he couldn't feel any constriction in it while at the same time it fit him it all the right places. The sleeves, as he had noted prior, were long at the end but where his hand stuck out wasn't opened fully. It really did remind him of something one of the exchange students from Japan had shown him once and he couldn't really shake that thought as it was all he had to relate it to.  
  
Stepping out of the room in this new clothing, he had almost thought Alfred to have fled, but, no, he was sitting on bench and still looked fairly red in the face. When he spotted Arthur, that red seemed to double.  
  
"Is that acceptable?" Alfred asked, voice tense.  
  
It took Arthur a moment to realize he meant the clothing. "Oh? Yes... Quite."  
  
Alfred looked relieved... although a glance at the scientists revealed that they looked a mix between amused and exasperated. He wondered if this clothing meant something... "What is this?" He decided to ask.  
  
It seemed Alfred didn't quite follow but after a moment he said, "Very simple clothing. Very casual."  
  
Ah, jeans and t-shirt, likely. That's why the scientists thought it was funny.  
  
"You need to blend in while we transport you." Alfred went on to say.  
  
Oh. That was new. "Transport?"  
  
Alfred nodded. "You are to go to palace today. You are healthy."  
  
A tremor of excitement shot through Arthur at the idea of  _leaving here_  and for the first time he realized how cooped up he felt. "When?" He asked, eager.  
  
"... Now?" Alfred said, looking surprised at Arthur's visible excitement.  
  
Well, it wasn't as though he had anything to pack. Arthur looked at him expectantly.  
  
Alfred rose, moving forward to put a cuff-like device on Arthur's wrist. There was an identical one of Alfred's. "We cannot lose you." He said. Was it a tracking device?  
  
The omega moved to open the door and Arthur felt a tug at his arm. When he moved towards Alfred, the tugging sensation stopped...   
  
A leash?  
  
If Alfred felt the tug between them, he didn't show it on his face.  
  
Exiting the room, Arthur was hit but the scents of all the omega who had passed through here and he became slightly light-headed, but Alfred was quick to pull him towards a door and down the hall and...  _Christ_ , the omega scent just never ended. It was  _everywhere_.  
  
He was tugged towards a tub-looking thing, that startled him, but as he stepped in they stepped off at an entirely different floor and he felt all kinds of nauseous. Instant elevator...?  
  
After a while he started to feel overloaded from the sights and sounds of the lab, but that was nothing compared to when they stepped outside.  
  
The first thing Arthur noticed was the clear, star-glittering night sky that sat flawlessly overhead. The second was the strange era he had come to be in. It looked like they were on a road but there was no ground underneath, just layers of more road lower. Shimmering, virtual guardrails lined the roads and buildings seemed to rise up high above them, the black serpents that were pathways snaking this way and that erratically.  
  
Yet somehow, through all of it, he could still effortlessly see the sky.  
  
Arthur was pulled towards what seemed to be a vehicle and he stepped in without examining it too much, forced by Alfred's rapid pace. They were sat in the back and, with a foreign command from the omega, the car began to move. There appeared to be no driver.  
  
Studying the strangeness that was the outside world, Arthur was struck silent.  
  
Alfred seemed consumed in thought.  
  
Eventually they reached what certainly  _looked_  like a palace. It had elaborate fountains out front, regal and mighty, and the architecture was only vaguely recognizable to Arthur. In some strange aspect, though, it reminded him of the castles in England...  
  
The car stopped and he was dragged inside. By now he felt so utterly overwhelmed that he could only just glimpse items, but his mind was too full to retain sight of them. He nearly bumped into Alfred when the omega stopped in front of a door and his attention was caught by the way Alfred undid the lock with a gel pad looking thing on the side of the wall. Once the door opened, he dragged Arthur inside.  
  
"King say you must stay in prince omega chamber." Alfred said, looking irritated. At a glance, Arthur could tell that this room was occupied by someone from the strange shelves lined with what appeared to be books and the scattering of personal possessions here and there. Alfred huffed, annoyed, before removing Arthur's wristband. "You are like stud now. How does that make you feel?"  
  
Arthur hesitated before realizing that Alfred meant the male breeding horse and not the slang. "I... don't know?"  
  
Alfred looked unsatisfied and crossed his arms. Obviously angry for some reason, he sulked. "I will send you food." He said, exiting the room and leaving Arthur alone to process everything.  
  
Despite how overwhelmed he felt and despite the homesickness that started to well up inside of him...  
  
Arthur was simply struck by how thoroughly this roomed was saturated with  _Alfred's_  scent.


	4. Boundary

Alfred had to be the prince.   
  
That was all there was to it.  
  
Arthur wasn't sure whether or not the omega had kept it a secret on purpose or whether or not he thought his phrasing made it obvious, but there was no looking past it. Mr. Archaeologist was some prince who wanted nothing to do with him but father dearest was commanding him to mate with some strange alpha who'd just popped out of a time capsule of sorts mere days ago.  
  
 _No wonder_  Alfred was so indignant.  
  
He quickly realized that he had a lot of questions for Alfred, so he sat and waited. Luckily he needn't wait very long as the door slid open and the young man in question walked in with what Arthur could only fathom to call a floating waiter's tray. The tray was somehow commanded to settle on the near desk as Alfred walked alongside it, looking more interested in the food than in Arthur.  
  
Arthur was beginning to get sick of these weird little games and sulks. "I know it is you who is the prince." He bluffed. "Look, if you hate me just say it already." He told the other, irritated. He was tired of being on his best behaviour just because he was at the mercy of others. He just wanted to be  _himself_  again.  
  
The omega looked at him, eyes unreadable, so Arthur continued. "You're obviously unhappy that I'm here. I don't know what I did to upset you so much, but I'm barely able to understand what's going on half the time as it is so I really can't do much about it."  
  
"You are talking a lot more now..." Alfred pointed out, face drawn. He was picking at some food on the table idly.  
  
Arthur wasn't sure what to say to that, but the omega spoke again.  
  
"I do not hate you. You are my project. I was one who want to bring you back..."  
  
"Then why--,"  
  
"We did not know you were alpha." Alfred was staring up at the wall. "None of other people were alpha."  
  
Ah, so he was some big discovery then. That would explain... a couple things, he supposed.  
  
"Father and brother have political unions with other omega already, but I do not. So they want me to be the one to..."  
  
Arthur listened, giving Alfred his full attention. When the omega looked at him, he seemed to hesitate before continuing with the translated ramblings.  
  
"I do not know the big deal of alpha. So what! You are great and special. Yes, yes..." Alfred was now pacing. "I just want to study past but now I am expected to... to breed. _With my body_." Alfred looked completely disgusted at the thought.  
  
The alpha tried to muffle a small laugh but the omega caught it all the same. Before he could get angry, Arthur spoke, "Do you want to know why alphas are a big deal in the past?" He asked, standing.  
  
"... Why?" Alfred began to look wary as Arthur approached him.  
  
Perhaps he was taking this a bit far, but he was an alpha and this was just how they were. He gently cupped the back of Alfred's head and pulled him forward so that his face was buried in Arthur's neck.  
  
At first the omega tensed and almost seemed ready to move away, which Arthur would have allowed, but then he relaxed... and the alpha mused that he was spurred on by curiosity.  
  
Arthur couldn't help feeling momentarily intoxicated by the omega's scent and he nuzzled the prince's neck, lightly grazing his teeth over that soft skin. He heard a soft gasp part with Alfred's lips as he started to kiss and suckle gently at the curve where his neck met shoulder.  
  
Using every bit of self control he had, Arthur pulled away.  
  
Alfred was standing there, face bright red and audibly panting. There was a dazed look in his eyes and Arthur would have bet his next meal that the poor thing was likely hard. The omega eventually rose his eyes to meet Arthur's and there was a strange look in them.  
  
Something like... exhilaration.  _A spark._  Possibly need. It was gone as quickly as it had appeared, however, replaced by curiosity.  
  
"What... was that?" Alfred asked, voice breathless. It was a voice that made Arthur want to pin him to the bed and fuck him right there.  
  
... Perhaps he was in a little over his head.  
  
"If you stay near me you'll feel like you want to do  _that_  more and more." Arthur said honestly. "You know about pheromones and hormones...?"  
  
Alfred frowned and picked up his tablet from the desk. Tapping at it, his expression shifted to one of embarrassment. "Yes... I know those things."  
  
"They're like drugs. They'll make you want to breed. Don't you ever go into heat?"  
  
The omega shook his head. "We use medicine to avoid heat."  
  
"Heat is what produces babies. It's like a drug and it feels good enough that it kept convincing people to make more people." Arthur tried to explain.  
  
Alfred was staring at him. "What is it you try to prove? I do not want to make baby with you. I do not want to breed. I just want to study."  
  
Arthur felt agitation rise to the surface. "I never asked for this--  _believe me_ \-- but why is it that you're so opposed to it all?"  
  
"I do not need to tell you that." Alfred countered, beginning to get angry. "I said no! That should be enough!"  
  
Ah, there it was. Arthur felt sheepish and toyed with his sleeve. He hadn't meant to press the issue so hard, but now that he was here... Alfred was right. He  _had_  said no. And despite the circumstances, he was a _gentleman_ and he was in the care of this omega. He took a deep breath. "Alright. I'll stop."  
  
Alfred stared at him, startled.  
  
"You do not want me, yet I am here. I won't invade your space. I won't court you. I won't make you feel uncomfortable on purpose. I'll respect your boundaries." Arthur looked at him with as much sincerity as he could muster. Alphas were good leaders and would willfully lead their omega partners as best they could, but Alfred didn't want that and Arthur couldn't justify pressing the matter further.  
  
He hadn't expected any particular reaction to that, but Alfred seemed to wilt slightly, the fire gone.  
  
After that they ate together in a tense silence.


	5. Dream

Things were legitimately awkward after that. Alfred had explained to Arthur that they had to share this room, which was an agreement the prince apparently had with his father. Arthur hadn't met the man himself, but he didn't really feel he had any choice in the matter-- he couldn't even figure out how he was supposed to open the door.  
  
So that night, when Alfred had fallen asleep while reading on his bed, tablet resting gently on his chest and rising with each breath, Arthur felt too out of place to wake him in order to ask where he should sleep.  
  
Tired and homesick, he found a spot on the floor away from the other male and tried to get some sleep. Somehow, the whole thing reminded him of the night his brothers had locked him out of the house, so he'd run off into the woods and slept in a faerie circle with the hope that the creatures would come and whisk him away. He had woken in the morning damp from rain and stiff.  
  
It wasn't one of his best memories, but he'd take what he could get.  
  
When he woke again, it was to the sound of fighting. Groaning slightly, he sat up and noticed with some surprise that at some point a heavy blanket had been placed over him. He hadn't much time to think about that as he looked up and saw...  
  
Alfred bickering with... a mirror image of himself at the door.  
  
No... the second one looked slightly different. And was wearing something that looked like a business suit but... not quite...  
  
It felt too early and there was not enough tea in his system to deal with this. He yawned and went to lay back down again--  
  
But a hand grabbed him and yanked him into a standing position. Arthur was too alarmed and bleary-eyed to comprehend what was happening before he was dragged over and discarded onto the bed. He blinked, fully awake now, and looked up at the not-Alfred who was yelling at Alfred and gesturing at Arthur and really he had no idea what they were saying but, god damn, they were  _loud_.  
  
This must have been Alfred's brother.   
  
Even in the future, siblings were the same, it seemed.  
  
The look alike seemed to give up on Alfred and instead turned to the slightly wary Arthur. "You. Sleep." He told him. "Bed. No floor." His sentences were curt and concise but got the point across. "Alfred bad."  
  
Alfred yelled something and Arthur amused himself with the idea that the majority of it was likely modern day curse words. It seemed the new Alfred was getting sick of whatever it was the other Alfred was saying, so he grabbing Arthur's arm and pulled him along, ignoring the other's protests as he lead the alpha out of the room and down the hall. They shortly came to another room, this one much neater, and the new omega shut the door before Alfred could follow them inside.  
  
Arthur was completely lost here.  
  
"Matthew." The omega said, extending his hand for Arthur to shake. Arthur did so, confused.  
  
"Arthur."  
  
"Yes." Matthew said, as if to say,  _'I know.'_  The omega took off his glasses and rubbed at his temple, looking frustrated. He gestured to the door. "Careless." He said.  
  
... whether or not he meant his actions or Alfred's, Arthur was uncertain.  
  
"Sit. Drinks?" The omega asked, waving to a chair. Arthur took it if only because standing didn't seem quite as appealing.  
  
"Tea?"  
  
"Yes." Matthew said, before touching his ear--a device, perhaps?--and saying something in that other language. He lowered his hand and went to sit wearily on the bed. It wasn't an invitation-- it was just the only other space to sit in the room. "Idiot." Matthew said, pointing to the door.  
  
That seemed a little harsh. "Why?"  
  
The omega paused. "You..." He frowned, sighed, and pulled out a tablet. After typing something for a minute or so, he very carefully read, "He made you sleep on the floor. You are a treasure to this family... and he made you sleep on the floor like an animal."  
  
The non-broken English surprised and delighted Arthur, despite the fact that it seemed Matthew had translated it. He laughed, feeling a good deal of relief for it.  
  
Matthew just stared at him, turning slightly red from embarrassment. He tapped out something and read, "Is the translation bad?"  
  
"No!" Arthur exclaimed. "No, it's wonderful. Good-- it's  _very_  good." He knew that Matthew probably couldn't follow along spoken English as easily, but at the way his face lit up it became apparent that he had understood.  
  
 _Tap tap tap_. "Does anything hurt?"  
  
It took Arthur a moment, "From sleeping on the floor?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"No, I'm alright."  
  
"Good."  
  
Matthew looked far more calm now, looking Arthur over. He sighed and the tapping started again. "He gave you that to wear?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
Another sigh and Matthew rolled his eyes. He looked back to his tablet. "Alfred is an idiot." He read, sounding almost apologetic.  
  
"Is this clothing bad?"  
  
Matthew shook his head and read, "No, just very plain and inexpensive."  
  
"I don't mind."  
  
"I do." Matthew told him.  
  
Suddenly Arthur realized that he had access to someone who seemed to know _far more_ about what was going on than he did and he asked the first thing that came to his mind, "Why do you want Alfred to mate with me?"  
  
The omega just looked at him for a long moment before reluctantly turning back to his tablet. "Alfred is very lonely and I think what he wants from this is a friend." Matthew said, the honesty wholly unexpected. "The whole world is watching him now, expecting him to bear alpha children..." Another pause. "He never wanted to be royalty, he just wanted to do what he wanted, but now he has no choice in the matter. He can't be an archaeologist if he is just mothering children."  
  
So... that was it.  
  
Arthur was a death sentence to him.  
  
The alpha felt an undeniable lump in his throat and suddenly he felt terrible for his actions yesterday. He never should have teased the omega like that... by showing him that his own body could betray him if he stopped resisting.  
  
His own body could destroy his dreams.  
  
"You look sad." Matthew said.  
  
Arthur looked up at him slowly. "... Why does it have to be him and not someone willing?"  
  
Matthew frowned and tapped something before reading, "It is important to the people that royal blood is used. Father will not allow you into the hands of another noble family since you are a treasure. Nor will he allow your DNA to be taken for alpha production. He wants all alphas to be bred naturally by," Matthew made a face, " _love_."  
  
And Alfred had said that the only other options were already in politically important relationships...  
  
A silence fell over them as Matthew simply watched him, fascinated in the same way those scientists had been. When the door trilled and a floating tray entered carrying tea, a livid Alfred strode in after it.  
  
Arthur didn't resist as he was dragged back to the other omega's room, as though he were a toy that the children had squabbled over.


	6. Temptation

As promised, Arthur kept himself in line around Alfred. He didn't get too close to the omega, he didn't allow himself to admire the boy's appearance, he didn't make any attempt at courtship, instinct driven or no, and he didn't fight for dominance.  
  
He had not known many alphas in the past that had his level of self-control, but  _he_  was a gentleman and a gentleman  _never_  pushed himself on another. His mother had taught him that and he had held it dearly to his heart along with her memory.  
  
The problem was... Alfred wasn't nearly as aware of himself as Arthur was. And after the fiasco with Matthew finding him sleeping on the floor, Alfred had begrudgingly made him share a bed with him. It was completely obvious that he didn't  _want_  to, but that was neither here nor there. Alfred had no choice and Arthur had even less of one so it was not really something he was fond of worrying himself over.  
  
Alfred, on the other hand...  
  
The first night they had fallen asleep awkwardly, both on opposite sides of the bed-- pretty much as far away from each other as they could manage without falling off.  
  
Arthur had woken up quite close to where he had fallen asleep.  
  
Arthur had woken up with a sleeping omega sprawled practically on top of him, one hand even going so far as to be up his shirt.  
  
There had been a lot of strange, foreign yelling that morning as Alfred had gone back and forth between yelling at him, yelling at him in  _English_ , and apologizing in English, face red all the while. Arthur had been particularly embarrassed too, but as it was quite obvious that it wasn't his fault he couldn't really  _do_  anything about it...  
  
They had ended up deciding to forget about the whole thing, although that night going to sleep was even more tense than the first had been.  
  
And then it had happened again, this time the omega spooning him from behind with his face buried in the short hair at the back of Arthur's neck.  
  
Rinse, repeat.  
  
The third morning Arthur had awoken to Alfred nipping affectionately at his neck in his sleep and that was the morning that he had decided enough was enough.  
  
Despite Alfred's reluctance, he had requested to speak to Matthew. The omega had guided him to the other room, this time eager to sit in on the conversation.  
  
"We can't be in the same bed together." Arthur began, looking dead serious at Matthew.  
  
Matthew pursed his lips, threw Alfred a questioning look, and then turned back to Arthur, "Why?" He didn't even need his tablet to ask that. (Apparently dead language was a class the two had taken together, but Alfred had gone on to study intermediate levels while Matthew had only taken it to fulfill some sort of requirement.)  
  
"Alfred is grabby." Arthur explained. Both brothers looked confused. "Er... Alfred ends up on my side of the bed every morning." He tried to clarify.  
  
Matthew's face lit up as Alfred's fell.  
  
"You do not tell him that!" Alfred exclaimed as the other brother openly laughed.  
  
 _Tap, tap._  "When we were young," Matthew began, "he would cuddle me every morning." He agreed.  
  
"Obviously this is a little different." Arthur pointed out. The tablet-bearing omega hummed in thought. "This is about a bit more than just wanting comfort."  
  
"I know." Matthew read. "Why are you telling me this?"  
  
"Yes, why?" Alfred said bitterly, but there was curiosity in his eyes too.  
  
"Considering the burden it is to Alfred, I thought I might request either a second bed be placed in the room or I be placed in a different room entirely." Arthur said, thinking the solution was simple. He would have taken the floor but that hadn't exactly been well-received the first time.  
  
"No." Matthew said easily. And then he read, "Father will be angry. You must both share a bed."  
  
"Might I speak to him...?" Arthur asked cautiously. The answer he got was just the one he had expected--  
  
Both brothers gave a very emphatic, " _No!_ "  
  
"..." Arthur looked between the two, the silence all the questioning they needed.  
  
"Father is..." Matthew trailed off, looking at his tablet. "Father is a very sexual person and he is interested in you but he wants to remain loyal to his female omega partner so avoiding that temptation is for the best."  
  
Ah, so it was something like that then.  
  
"Father too dangerous." Alfred snuffed a sound of laughter. "Even father knows it."  
  
"You must be exaggerating..." Arthur said, prodding for more information.  
  
Matthew looked torn but finally settled on, "He has a drinking problem. We do really think it's best you do not meet him until after you are mated." Alfred looked irritated at the insinuation that he  _would_  mate.  
  
Defeated, Arthur sighed. "Alright. Well... it was worth a try. Thank you for your time, Matthew." The omega in question gave him a nod of 'you're welcome' as Alfred eagerly dragged the alpha back to his own room.  
  
Arthur was beginning to suspect that with the lack of alphas in the world, omegas had picked up the role of being territorial. It would explain a lot about Alfred, for one.  
  
"So you do not like sleeping next to me?" Alfred asked haughtily once they were back to the other room, reminding Arthur of an over-emotional housewife. "I bother you?"  
  
"No." Arthur replied, not really in the mood for Alfred's nagging.  
  
"Then why ask brother for new bed?"  
  
" _You_ ," Arthur began, jabbing an acquisitive finger at the omega, "have made it quite clear that  _you_  do not want to mate so  _I_  was just trying to accommodate that and give you space."  
  
Alfred gave an indignant sniff. "I am fine. I have complete control."  
  
"No. No, you really  _don't_." Arthur rebutted. "One of these mornings I'll wake up with your hand down my pants and then what?" Alfred looked vaguely scandalized at the accusation but Arthur didn't give him a chance to speak, "I'm doing what I can to help you, but even I can't control myself if things go too far. I already have enough trouble as it is with being in a room that smells so strongly of you that it's hard to think. What are you going to do if you get me riled up? And I pin you down? What then?"  
  
"Then do not do that." Alfred insisted.  
  
" _It's not that easy!_ " Arthur nearly snarled, the noise making Alfred instinctively shrink back and tilt his head. It was a funny move for someone who was wholly unaware that he had just made a very submissive gesture instinctively. "Omegas were  _rare_  in my timeline and even  _then_  they were kept safe from alphas. Alphas are dangerous.  _I_  am  _dangerous_. Your pheromones mess with my head. Every part of me screams for me to court you and  _every part of you_  wants that to happen-- it's just  _biology_. If you don't understand that, educate yourself! I don't want to hurt you... I'm trying my  _best_ here..."  
  
Feeling the adrenaline pooling up in him, Arthur just wanted to fight something. Anything. Not  _Alfred_ , of course, but another alpha. He was too worked up and part of his body was taking the opportunity to point out that maybe if he showed his superiority over another alpha, Alfred would take him more seriously. It was a stupid part of his brain--an animal part--but it was there all the same. So he just kept pacing, restless.  
  
Alfred was silent, watching him with wide eyes. He didn't seem afraid just...  
  
Just subdued.  
  
Eventually he left the room and Arthur tore into one of the pillows on the bed, fighting it childishly until he managed to tire himself out.  
  
The room was covered in scraps of some kind of strange pillow foam.  
  
He felt like he was going crazy here.


	7. Need

After his fit, Arthur had taken the time to pile the little scraps of pillow into a neat pile, balancing the smaller pieces on top of the larger pieces. It was a tower. A tower made from his own destructive tendencies. It didn't help the urge to pace after he had regained some of his energy, but it had helped distract him for a time.  
  
Alfred had come back after around two hours carrying an armload of... books. Or so they looked like books. From glancing at one of the ones on the shelf once, Arthur had realized quickly that he didn't even know how they worked and that wasn't something you could say about real, paper books.  
  
Paper books didn't have lights and on / off buttons and pages that you could stick your hand through without ripping. Nor did they have sounds. Or videos. Or projections.  
  
Whatever they were, Alfred had apparently helped himself to acquiring some new ones.  
  
The omega was staring down at the little tower of fluff with an expression on his face that Arthur fondly dubbed,  _'What hast thou done to my pillow?'_  It seemed, however, that the omega was simply going to choose not to ask. He dumped his future-books on the desk and activated a machine that immediately began to collect the scraps of mess on the floor.  
  
Arthur bid a fond farewell to Mount Rage Vent.  
  
...  _Christ_ , he really was going insane here.  
  
"You say research? I can learn now." Alfred patted his tower of books.  
  
Arthur picked himself up off from where he had been sitting cross-legged on the floor and flopped gracelessly onto the bed, face down, without responding. It was childish, certainly, but his self-control was abysmally low right now and dealing with Alfred earlier had not ended well.  
  
It was a right and proper sulk, it was.  
  
He heard silence for a minute before the mattress sunk down next to him. Looking up, he saw sky blue eyes behind almost invisible lenses.  
  
... He missed the sky.  
  
"Are you okay?" Alfred asked, looking legitimately concerned.  
  
Considering that he was prickling with energy, "No, not particularly."  
  
"... Sick?"  
  
"No. I just..." Arthur wasn't quite sure himself so he struggled to put it together in his own head before settling on, "I really, really want some kind of physical activity."  
  
Alfred turned scarlet.  
  
"No! I mean... running or... sports or... swimming... biking...  _something_. I just can't be in this room all the time. I need fresh air. I feel pent up. I just can't be in a room like this _all the time_." He knew he was repeating himself, but his mind was looping thoughts and the omega scent was just so  _bloody_  strong...  
  
The blush already beginning to fade, Alfred made a face of understanding. "Pillow?" He murmured.  
  
"Yes... That, uh... Sorry." Arthur grumbled, but it was sincere.  
  
Alfred shrugged, but there was an enchanted look on his face. "So alpha need lots of 'physical activity'?" He said, using Arthur's own words uncertainly.  
  
"I never really thought so but... yes." Sort of like how a dog required walking but he wasn't really going to tell it to Alfred like that. He didn't want to paint himself as even  _more_  of a pet.  
  
He wasn't even sure they  _had_  dogs in the future. If they did he certainly hadn't seen one.  
  
Alfred hummed in thought, silent for a time. "You want to go outside now?" He asked.  
  
" _Oh god, yes._ "  
  
  
  
There was a sun. There was an actual, real sun in the sky. Arthur almost couldn't believe it.  
  
They had gone out to a near courtyard that was empty of people. It had strange plants and pathways that looked made out of light rather than any natural substance, but he didn't really care. There was a high wall all the way around it, so it was obviously some private feature of the palace. It must have been fairly safe to bring him here, because Alfred didn't even bother putting a leash on him.  
  
Instead the omega was sitting on a step, watching him like a hawk.  
  
Arthur didn't care. When he looked up at the sky it looked like a real sun and a blue, blue,  _blue_  on forever sky with a single, puffy white cloud. He never thought he would be this happy just to be outside. He didn't know if it was real or some strange illusion, but it hardly mattered. It  _looked_ like the sun and that was enough for him.  
  
Brimming with energy, he started to sprint around the fountains and planters in laps. He had been in cross-country in high school when he was younger-- competing with the other alphas for speed, challenging himself to navigate dirt and mud and rock, testing his agility in the safety of his beloved forests in his own free time.  
  
Initially he hadn't been certain that these strange pants-shoes could take it, but they breathed easily, the shoes offering the support of a professional athletic shoe and so, reassured, he let himself loose.  
  
He was out of practice and much slower than he used to be, but that mattered very little. For the first time since he had woken up, he felt genuinely  _good_. Muscles singing and endorphins pumping through him, he worked up a sweat he was quite proud of and explored the courtyard at the same time.  
  
The strange light paths left ripples in his wake as though he were walking on water, amusing him all the more.  
  
After about an hour, he had finally had his fill.   
  
At some point Alfred had taken to looking at his tablet, probably bored, but as Arthur approached him the omega looked up.  
  
And a flush rose to his face as he just stared at Arthur.  
  
Having worked through his excess energy, the alpha felt like he was riding a high and he was much more relaxed, but moreover the air had cleared his head and he could see right away that something was a little off with Alfred.  
  
Still panting from exertion, Arthur gave the other a breathless laugh. "Bored?" He asked, his bangs slicked wet to his forehead with sweat. He probably looked terrible at this point.  
  
At the sound of his voice the omega jerked suddenly to his feet. Alfred seemed to be openly struggling with something and Arthur immediately became concerned.  
  
"Are you alright?" He asked, stepping towards him.  
  
For a fearful moment the omega almost looked faint before he stumbled and righted on his own feet. Shaking his head vigorously, Alfred was taking deep, forced breaths. He suddenly trained his eyes on Arthur, the gaze intense.  
  
The flush on the others face looked less like embarrassment and more like...  
  
Oh.  _Oh_.  
  
Arthur jerked back, but it was too late. Alfred went to grab his arm and, conflicted, Arthur stopped moving. He was covered in his own sweat-- _alpha sweat_. God, what had he been  _thinking_?  
  
"Y- you..." Alfred began, but his voice was heavy and tight, as though the omega was having trouble breathing.  
  
"Look, you should really step away from me right n-- mmph!" The omega was pressing his lips to his and Arthur felt a visceral ripple go through his body as his entire nervous system fired off at once.  
  
And just like that he was pressing back-- dominating, teeth and tongue and his sweaty body feverishly grasping at Alfred's, hands everywhere and nowhere. And Alfred was responding in kind but submissively, body limp and lithe in his grasp as the omega gave in to every desire his body must have been crying for. They ended up stumbling into a wall, Alfred's back pressed against it as Arthur took to exploring his face and his neck with his lips, teasing flesh with his canine teeth and leaving marks that wouldn't fade for a week.  
  
Mine.  
  
His thoughts were racing as strong fingers clutched needy at his back.  
  
Mine. Mine, mine, m--  
  
Arthur shoved Alfred away suddenly, gasping for a breath of air as he stumbled backwards. He was indescribably hard, his body pulsing to reconnect as though they were magnets, but Arthur's mind was racing.  
  
No, no, no, no no no no no  _no_...  
  
Alfred didn't want this. Alfred didn't want this. Alfred didn't want this.  
  
Thoughts erratic and panicked--  _he ran_.


	8. Clean

When Arthur had run, he hadn't paid any mind to the direction, simply letting his feet carry him away from the omega who had made his mind shut down with lust and his body ache with need. He soon realized he was in the palace, loose, and completely lost, but for some reason he just kept running, even past the surprised shouts of what looked to be maids and servants if their garb was any indication.  
  
It was when he had rounded a corner that he had finally stopped running, but that was because a warm body had  _made_  him stop.  
  
Or rather, he had collided with someone--an omega,  _of course_ \--and had reeled back in a flailing, surprised mess before landing hard on his arse.  
  
The shock from the fall dazed him slightly, but the one thing he did notice was that, unlike himself, the other figure hadn't fallen over. Looking up, he offered a thoroughly winded, "A- apologies..."  
  
The man stared down at him and Arthur realized he must have been quite a few years older than himself. He was blond and blue-eyed, like Alfred, but his hair was significantly longer and it curled around his neck from where it was bundled back with an elaborate pin. His clothing looked to be far more regal than anything Arthur had seen thus far, but his mind was working at a snail's pace and he couldn't really make anything of it.  
  
Those cool blue eyes were looking at him, studying, before the poised man leaned forward to offer him the aid of a gloved hand. Arthur took it, feeling childish and stupid all at once.  
  
It seemed that the man understood his circumstances, for he turned on his heel and made a short gesture for Arthur to followed. Lost, the alpha felt compelled to listen.  
  
The man led him into a near room and, all at once, Arthur was hit in the face with steam and fragrance. Blinking away the fog, he saw a sprawling indoor bath before him. Its make seemed like an awkward combination of modern and old era England, majestic, digital lions posing as fountains but occasionally yawning or scratching lazily at an ear...  
  
And then the man left him there, just like that, having not spoken a single word.  
  
Arthur was fairly certain that this was a polite way of saying,  _'You stink.'_  in universal language and, after the laps around the plaza, he wouldn't have doubted it.  
  
Still, he wasn't about to ignore the invitation for a bath and the man had been so regal that it  _must_  have been acceptable for him to be here.  
  
Yes, he'd go with that.  
  
Not having a better plan, he found some assorted soap-like bottles in a basket off to the side and took them with him as he stripped down and stepped into the bath. He had no idea what the proper protocol was for sitting down in a steaming tub the size of two or three suburban pools, but since no one was in here that meant no one was here to see him break said protocol.  
  
He had no idea what possessed him to simply accept all of this, sinking down into the warm water with a deep feeling of gratitude. His muscles were already beginning to ache a touch from the running he had done, which was wholly unsurprising if his physical endurance had been compromised at all by his freeze. He may have even pushed himself too far, but he didn't feel any obvious strain so...  
  
Letting his thoughts drift, he leaned on his forearms on the tiled step, resting his head on them as he simply tried to relax. The bath must have been well-maintained, because it didn't smell too heavily of anything in particular-- omegas included.  
  
It was when he heard a soft click that he was roused from his dozing--something he really shouldn't have been doing in the bath as it were. Looking up, he saw Alfred's familiar figure. Arthur hesitated, a myriad of emotions welling up in him, but he simply... let it all go and relaxed. He couldn't spend his entire life stressed out by the mere sight of the omega. And, really, he had to credit it all to the bath, which was soothing him tremendously.  
  
He simply didn't have any energy left to fight any of this, Alfred included.  
  
It wasn't until he heard the ruffling of clothing that Arthur looked up again, this time to the sight of Alfred in nothing but a towel.  
  
His throat went dry, but all questions as to whether or not the omega realized he was here fled him as the young man turned to look straight at him.  
  
And then approached him.  
  
In nothing but a towel.  
  
"W- wha--,"  
  
"Father told I join you here." Alfred said, and Arthur had to wonder if the omega's English was getting  _worse_  over time or if he was just putting less thought into his words. His bet was on the latter. The omega avoided eye contact as he lowered himself into the bath mere meters away. He threw Arthur a glance, but lingered before turning his head away with a jerk. " _Towel_...?" He asked.  
  
Oh, so Arthur should have been wearing one of those...? The alpha blushed hard, turning away since Alfred apparently couldn't be trusted to not look on his own. "I... don't know how this bath works. I'm sorry..."  
  
There was a pregnant pause, but Alfred's face was red and he was struggling to bring words forth as his lips moved but nothing came out. Finally, "Can I see it?"  
  
Arthur's mind was blank. "See... what?"  
  
"..." Alfred stared straight ahead, but rigidly said, "You say I need learn more about alpha..."  
  
Oh.  _Oh_.  
  
Alfred wanted to see his penis.  
  
...  _Well then_.  
  
"Are you completely sure about this?" Arthur asked, incredulous and voice tight.  
  
Alfred gave a jerk of a nod, looking at the alpha out of the corner of his eye.  
  
He felt like a primary school child all over again.  _'Show me yours; I'll show you mine.'_  eh...?  
  
Except that he knew, in theory, what an omega looked like and he really needn't see it for himself.  
  
"Alright." Arthur relented, steeling himself. He was an  _alpha_. An omega had just asked to see his cock. How the  _bloody hell_  could he refuse that kind of challenge? He stood up in the bath water, fully exposed, and crossed his arms over his chest.  
  
Considering that Alfred had complete permission to look now, he did so, face redder than Arthur had ever seen it before. Still, those blue eyes were tracing his length--he was average for an alpha, even he would admit, but compared to an omega perhaps that might seem impressive?--and resting on the subtly swelled base.  
  
"I... remember  _that_." Alfred said, voice completely choked with embarrassment. "I thought... I thought you sick but... book say that is 'knot'?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
Alfred looked disappointed. "Book say it was bigger."  
  
"Oh, it gets  _bigger_." Arthur said, feeling almost shameless as he continued. "It swells up three or four times that size inside an omega during heat to lock the two bodies together."  
  
The omega was looking at him with awe. "Omega breaks!" He balked.  
  
Arthur sat down, almost amused by the vague look of disappointment that flickered over Alfred's face. "No, the omega body can adapt to it. I've heard it feels quite pleasurable." Oh lord, that sounded like a proposition, didn't it? He cleared his throat slightly and looked away, but he had this fear that only made the insinuation worse.  
  
"I do not want to breed." Alfred said, tense.  
  
"I know." Arthur replied.  
  
There was a brief silence between the two and Arthur realized that he really wasn't affected by the omega's presence. In fact... he couldn't even smell him at this distance, the fragrance in the air too heady and strong. Considering Alfred's willingness to come in here, he suspected that was on purpose.  
  
Still it was a  _relief_ being able to talk like this without biology involved.  
  
"But..." Alfred continued, breaking the silence. Arthur looked at him and found the omega to be curled in on himself slightly, drawing circles in the water, "father want us a couple even if not breed."  
  
This wasn't news to Arthur, so he didn't know what to say.  
  
"Does it bother you?"  
  
The alpha shrugged, "I have no choice." He said honestly.  
  
Alfred looked slightly upset, "That not what I asked."  
  
Arthur hesitated, looking down at the water. To be completely honest, he couldn't say objectively how he felt about this situation. He had no idea how much of his attraction was his body manipulating him and how much of it was because he liked the other boy, but... he sighed, dragging a hand through his hair. "I... do not dislike the idea." He said slowly, trying to work around the concept in his head. "You are not unpleasant. I don't find myself particularly bothered by you. You enjoy learning as do I, so I'm certain we have common ground." He watched the water rippling around him, feeling off balance. "This world... is hard for me to understand. I'll need some time to figure it out... as well as to figure myself out."  
  
The omega was quiet, listening intently to ever word. Even the lion fountains in the bath seemed to be eavesdropping as they spared them curious glances. "If... you do not dislike me..." Alfred began and Arthur turned his head to see the omega wide-eyed and rigid and not looking at him. "I want you to... c- court... me like... like you would someone else..."  
  
His throat felt tight as he took a breath. "Alright." He agreed, his mind hardly sparing a second to process the request. If they weren't in a bath he was sure his palms would have been sweaty.  
  
"So... we are courting now?" Alfred asked. Arthur gave him a perplexed glance as the omega sent him a strangely calculating look. "Omega here... we court too..."  
  
Oh. Well, that was  _new_. Arthur would have asked how that worked, but there was a question to be answered, "I... suppose if we are both willing... then, yes... we are courting now."  
  
He could feel the water shift as the omega moved closer, but Arthur froze as he sat rigidly and waited to see what would happen next.  
  
Strangely, he still couldn't smell the other, but Alfred must have been thinking the same thing as he sighed and said, "Negotiations often held in bath because scent does not work here."  
  
"I see." Arthur said, suddenly understanding another reason why he might have been brought here.  
  
Alfred was rummaging through the soaps Arthur had placed at the edge of the tub, picking one up and looking at Arthur with apprehension. "I will wash your hair." He said and the alpha decided this must have been a common courting act. Nodding hesitantly, he turned so that his back was to Alfred.  
  
After a moment he felt fingers in his hair, soap lathering up under gentle caresses. No one had done this for him but his mum and that was when he had been a small child... It was strangely soothing in a weird way and far more intimacy than he had expected when he had woken up that day.  
  
They'd only known each other for a handful of days, nearing on a week, and already they were courting...  
  
Not only that but he'd quite thoroughly stuck his tongue down the omega's throat prior. Feeling his face heat, he said, "I'm sorry for earlier..."  
  
The fingers in his hair twitched and stilled. "I kissed you." That voice said, almost too soft to hear.  
  
"You were overwhelmed by me. I was being careless."  
  
Alfred snorted, the sound not very dignified for a royal prince. "Not everything is about you." He said, but it sounded like he was pouting.  
  
Arthur felt himself laugh softly, the tension between them noticeably easing.  
  
Perhaps that was true.


	9. Promise

Courtship between an alpha and omega was a primitive-turned-modern system, at least in Arthur's time. While many of the more stereotypical actions were based on instinctive urges, they were always performed in a way that was more acceptable to intellectually based humans.  
  
The difficulty here was that Arthur had never courted an omega before and, in this new era, if there were resources for him they were not ones he could access by any means. He could barely follow along as to what the technology of the time was supposed to _be_ , let alone utilize it without Alfred's aid.  
  
And moreover, if he looked for guidance then that would reflect poorly on him.  
  
So he needed to simply make do with what he  _did_  know.  
  
That, coupled with his limited resources, left him with only a few ideas, but enough to show his hand. Alphas and omegas were courting long before civilized society came into being, after all.  
  
Once the bath had ended, Alfred led him back to the room and gave him another set of clothes. This time the garb was different in subtle ways, looking more posh than the casual wear he had had on before, and, when prodded, the omega admitted that his brother had advised something like this.  
  
It was extremely elaborate, but he donned at least the basics of it-- white pants that turned into boots that appeared to have some kind of embossing along the side, a back undershirt, and a lavender coat that went down to his knees. There was a ribbon or sorts, which seemed to fashion into a regal bow beneath his neck, but, as for the frills, he left off some of the accessories along with a slightly gaudy little hat.  
  
Studying himself in the washroom mirror, Arthur decided this was probably an improvement over his previous clothing and exited to find Alfred dressed in his normal wear.  
  
The omega, who hadn't seen the actual clothing up until now, stared at him with his mouth partially agape. Arthur felt a flicker of worry, "Is this bad?" He asked, hoping Matthew hadn't been playing some kind of unknown prank on him.  
  
He felt relieved when the omega shook his head furiously, "N- no it is fine." He said, stumbling over his words.   
  
Arthur could tell from the way Alfred's jaw was set that something was amiss. "What is it?" He asked, stern.  
  
The omega glanced up at him, flushing. "That is... that is a..." Alfred licked his lip. "When omega court... one wear something like that sometime..." He hesitated. "Usually the... the one brought into family... Usually the... selected... _bride_..."  
  
"..." Arthur faintly wondered how Matthew had predicted this turn of events, and his respect for the other brother rose ten-fold.  
  
"It is... it is  _true_... that I court you, too, but..." The omega was flustered, but Arthur saw it was in a good way. "It seem strange on alpha..."  
  
Perhaps something like seeing the wife you were to marry in her wedding gown?  
  
Yes, that seemed similar... perhaps less formal and ceremonial, but similar. At least in his own mind.  
  
"I'll wear it if it makes you happy." Arthur said, sincere in his words as he gave Alfred a warm look. He could feel alpha charm just oozing off of him, but it wasn't that he wanted to manipulate Alfred...  
  
No, he really  _was_  interested in courting him, he had just been incredibly resistant towards it up until now. It felt like some kind of floodgate had been released as he just allowed himself to indulge and soothe all the pent up tension from his inaction.  
  
He was in another time and place with people he had never met but...  
  
This omega felt like his anchor and even if he felt overwhelmed and in over his head he could tell there was something genuine and honest and well-meaning about this male and although he didn't know him well...  
  
He was beginning to accept the way this entire situation swept him away from all that was familiar, like a strong current.  
  
Alfred looked slightly enamored with Arthur's appearance, a blush etching up further at the words he spoke, but then the omega was on his feet and heading into the washroom and when he returned it was with that funny hat.  
  
"Wear this too?" He asked, looking heart-breakingly hopeful.  
  
Eyeing the small top hat with the elaborate fringe, Arthur sighed. It was a little emasculating but... "That won't fit on my head." He said. Alfred just laughed a little and moved closer, seeming to mess with his hair for a moment before placing the thing on his head.  
  
Curious, Arthur went back to the mirror.  
  
The little hat sat tilted neatly, looking more perfect in its set than he would have thought possible without some kind of professional stylist, his hair tousled around it in a favorable way. All in all it was a touch too feminine for his tastes but...  
  
He supposed it really wasn't that bad. Perhaps it all had a sort of eccentric gentleman charm to it? Yes, that seemed acceptable too.  
  
Alfred was standing in the doorway, watching him as he looked himself over. Arthur glanced at the omega, "You like this sort of thing?" He asked, raising a brow.  
  
"... It means many thing." Alfred said, appearing overwhelmed.  
  
" _Things_." Arthur said.  
  
Alfred paused. "What?"  
  
"It means many  _things_ , is what you meant. Plural. Multiple. More than one." The alpha was fiddling with his strange bow when he spoke, not looking at the other, but when he did he saw Alfred standing there looking at him with wide eyes. "Ah... What?" He dearly hoped he hadn't offended.  
  
"I... sometime forget I don't know English like you." The omega hesitated. "Is... is my English bad--?"  
  
"No, no, no..." Arthur said, feeling faintly rude for his actions. "Your English is fairly good, there are just minor things here and there..."  
  
Alfred's face was suddenly quite serious. "Will you teach me?"  
  
"Teach you...?"  
  
"I want to know good English... I want to be best..." The omega ran a hand through his hair, looking embarrassed. "I hate mistake. If I am best I can learn more about past... Learn more about everything that happen... How we are here now..." He looked at Arthur, dead serious. "I want you teach me everything. I want to understand past. I don't want breed but... but society... everything die without alpha... It will..."  
  
Arthur felt the anxiety in the air, the seriousness of this topic leaving him wanting more. "Why do you need alphas...?" He asked, feeling a strange sense of disconnectedness. He had known that others wanted he and Alfred to breed, but he had never stopped to ask...  _why_ , exactly. To produce more alphas? But to what end...?  
  
Alfred looked pained. "It is... recent development. Omega breed omega seem fine but now it... it is not good. It is very bad."  
  
"Why?"  
  
The omega released a shuddered breath, obviously upset by the subject. "Immune system is weak." His hand was tensed into a fist as he spoke. "Viral outbreak... just demolish population sometime. Also... genetic deformity... complication... Used to be alpha sample used to make alpha but something happen. All sample just gone..."  
  
Alfred left for the bedroom and Arthur followed, entranced by his words and compelled to know more.  
  
The omega in question pulled a book out from the shelf and opened it. A realistic image of a man came to life in the form of some sort of projection. It didn't move, just stood there like a three dimensional image. "This last alpha... before you. He killed. We think murder, so we keep you secret-- tell no one. It one hundred twenty-three year ago, but not take risk. All alpha sample disappear after that and no one know why, but we are protected here. No one know about you... We hope to safely rebuild and fight outbreak. Hope that no one tamper with children. Everyone scared but no one know what to do. We hope this give people hope."  
  
The omega put the book down and sat on the bed, looking tired and suddenly older. He lifted his glasses up to rub at his eyes.  
  
Leveling the silent Arthur with another look, he said, "I do not want breed... I want to learn and find out why we are like this now. What happen? So many record in English... but English is dead now... like alpha was. No one take it seriously. No one care... But so many record... Maybe someone try to hide them? Kill language too?"  
  
Arthur sat down next to Alfred on the bed, feeling the strange balance of their body weight on the mattress. "I am alive." He said, voice heavy.  
  
"Yes. We all surprise... Hope to find beta or omega from past... and it is alpha..."  
  
Swallowing, Arthur asked, "You said you found me...?"  
  
"Buried. Buried underground... Old lab... Miracle you not dead, in fact." He could feel Alfred's eyes on him so he looked up, finding those sky blues burning into his very being. "You are miracle."  
  
Arthur felt choked, his weight in this world suddenly seeming so much heavier. His every breath was a miracle to an unknown amount of people and here he was...  
  
... taking it all for granted.  
  
Alfred fell silent again, hands fisted on the fabric of his pants as he said, "I do not want to breed... but I want to save everyone... Maybe with you I do this. Maybe I bear children. I do not want to, but maybe I can love you."  
  
A beat of silence.  
  
The omega continued. "Maybe you can make me love you enough to do this?"  
  
There was no response that Arthur could conjure until those pained blue eyes glanced up at him again and he felt his heart freeze.  
  
" _Please?_ " The sound a hoarse whisper, heavy with grief.  
  
  
  
  
"... Alright."


	10. Dance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As a reference, Alfred's clothing looks like [this](http://snowyfoxpaws.tumblr.com/post/81389356188/aaaaannnd-looking-forward-to-tomorrow-art-from-a). His shirt colors vary, however.

Now that Arthur and Alfred were mutually courting each other, life suddenly seemed a bit more frantic.  
  
Namely, they kept fumbling around each other like two love drunk squirrels on a thin branch. It was a game of sorts and one that Arthur couldn't say he was very good at, but that didn't prevent him from giving it his best shot regardless.  
  
Honestly, most of it was just instinct.  
  
On the first night, they had gone to bed with a feeling of mutual anticipation. Their proximity made it easy to assume that  _something_  would happen... and Arthur chose not to disappoint. Once settled beneath the covers, he deliberately moved to Alfred's side of the bed and very cautiously curled up behind the omega, his cheek resting on the back of the other man's neck. He could tell from where his hand lay on the other's chest that his heart was racing, so he went one step further and let his teeth settle on the supple flesh of the omega's neck, teasing it.  
  
"A-  _ahh_..." Alfred groaned, twitching. Arthur felt his lips curl into a silly little grin. An omega's neck was extremely sensitive and the kneading of his teeth was all too similar to what an alpha would do before marking their mate during a heat. Still, he left it at only that, gently kissing the tender skin before letting himself get more comfortable.  
  
It was a long while before either of them fell asleep.  
  
In the morning, Arthur had woken up on Alfred's side of the bed alone, but his confusion was soon replaced with intrigue as he saw a bouquet of flowers at the bedside with a little card. Leaning over to read it, he saw the words 'GOODMORNING' written in very rigid English, no space between. He smiled softly as he lay there, studying the card and wondering what type of flower it was that he had been given. It was red--almost rose-like--but there were little white stripes on the petals that reminded him of tiger markings...  
  
Uncertain as to where Alfred had gone, Arthur got up, showered, and donned his new courting garb only to meet the omega himself as he exited the washroom. The other blond perked up at the sight of him, shyly gesturing to one of those floating platters as his face heated with a blush. "Brought breakfast..." He said.  
  
Arthur smiled gently, "Say,  _'I brought you breakfast.'_ " He corrected.  
  
"I brought you breakfast." Alfred said, watching Arthur for approval.  
  
"Much better." Arthur reassured, much to the omega's delight. Walking over to the platter his eyes grew wide at the selection. Some pasties of some sort, a few meats, a yellow mush that could have been egg, and some kind of juice. And grapes. There always seemed to be grapes... "This looks fantastic." He said, noticing Alfred's ear-to-ear grin out of the corner of his eye. He picked up one of the pastries and settled himself in a chair.  
  
Alfred looked excited. "Oh-- this too!" He exclaimed, taking a little pot and pouring it into a cup. It seemed to be tea. "I research England. Earl grey, yes?"  
  
" _'Researched.'_ " Arthur corrected, "And, yes, earl grey sounds  _amazing_. You actually have some?"  
  
"Yes! It was hard, but market had some."  
  
" _'The market.'_ " Arthur said, taking the small cup as Alfred offered it.   
  
The omega repeated the correction to himself a few times.   
  
Raising the rim to his lips, Arthur found the taste a little bitter and somehow...  _off_... but it was vaguely familiar and that was as good as it got in this future. "It's amazing Alfred. Thank you." He said sincerely.  
  
The omega beamed with joy.  
  
After breakfast was finished, it occurred to him that he couldn't let Alfred out-court him like this. Determined to even the score, he asked the omega if he would like to take a walk. Curious, Alfred had agreed and said he knew of the perfect place.  
  
They arrived shortly at an expansive garden, maintained on palace grounds, and Arthur felt a sense of awe wash over him as he admired the various types of strange and wonderful flora. Still, he was meant to woo Alfred, not the other way around, and so he tugged the omega along the winding path. He hadn't exactly planned anything, but, when they encountered an open area in the center with a large fountain, he suddenly felt inspired.  
  
He looked at Alfred, eyes shimmering with mischief. "Do you know how to dance?" He asked.  
  
"Dance?" Alfred repeated.  
  
"Like this..." Arthur said, taking the omega's hand in his and using the other one to rest at the middle of his back. He might have been a hair shorter, but that didn't mean he couldn't lead.  
  
And like that he drew Alfred into a proper English waltz, at first a clumsy follow but after a minute or two the omega seemed to get the hang of it. He went slowly at first, watching with amusement as Alfred concentrated heatedly on his feet, looking determined to follow whatever it was that Arthur's did, so the alpha went easy on him.  
  
"English waltz." Arthur said, answering the unasked question.  
  
Still looking at his feet, a look of recognition dawned on Alfred's face. "Waltz..." He repeated slowly, blinking. "I read... I read of this in book. It is formal..."  
  
"Yes, it can be." The Englishman chuckled fondly. "I've never danced like this for an event, but my mum wanted me to learn it all the same. She said, _'You never know when you might need to sweep someone off their feet.'_..."  
  
Alfred went silent for a minute, following the twirling pattern of their feet. "Your mother sounds nice." He said.  
  
"She was a lovely woman." Arthur admitted.  
  
A strange look crossed Alfred's face before, "Do you miss her?"  
  
Arthur felt a pang in his chest. "Yes. I've missed her every day since her death." He said quietly, honest.  
  
Alfred looked up at his face, blue eyes questioning.  
  
"She died long before I was stored in that tube-- don't you worry about that."  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
"Whatever for?"  
  
Alfred hesitated. "For your loss."  
  
"Fate can be cruel." Arthur said softly, feeling a delicate breeze sweep the scent of flowers over them. "Yet we keep going. She may be gone, but I still remember her... in cups of tea, ballroom dances, and fine embroidery. She's still alive in my mind, as are many others long passed. That is all I can do to honour her, but I know she would appreciate it all the same."  
  
A sniffle jolted Arthur's attention back to his dancing partner and he was alarmed to see the omega crying.  
  
"A- Alfred?" He asked, startled into stopping. The omega shook his head and jerked Arthur back into the pace of the dance. Perplexed, he continued, watching Alfred's face with open concern.  
  
"You talk and dance... so I talk and dance..." He said. Arthur didn't have a response for that. "Mother die when I was young. Matthew and I very sad but... but I never think of her like that. The way you think of your mother... you very special... I miss mine but... but she teach me many thing. She read to me at night. I want to show you thing she teach us too."  
  
"Oh,  _Alfred_..."  
  
"She die to virus..." Alfred continued, eyes red rimmed. He looked like he wanted to hold back the tears but it wasn't working so he simply focused on his feet, concentrating on following Arthur's. "No one else should die. I want to stop it."  
  
"One step at a time." Arthur said softly.  
  
"Kiss me." Alfred said abruptly.  
  
"Pardon?"  
  
The omega looked at him. "I kiss you before... but I want you to kiss me."  
  
Arthur smiled. "Love, if you demand it then it won't be the proper kiss you're looking for..."  
  
Alfred looked on the verge of protest, so Arthur took that moment to release his side in order to spin him before drawing him back in, close. Suddenly they were both still, hesitating.  
  
"Yet I cannot refuse you." He said, feeling light-headed as he took in that fragrant and intoxicating scent. Alfred had worked up a light sweat and he could feel the enticing allure rolling off of him in waves.  
  
Leaning forward, he pressed his lips chastely to Alfred's.  
  
In this courting game, he was certain the score was now even.


	11. Control

It had been three weeks since they had officially started courting and Arthur felt that things were going swimmingly.   
  
They hadn't progressed as far as physical affection was concerned, but Arthur had taken up giving the omega English lessons daily to help correct some of his more common errors and Alfred was absorbing the material surprisingly fast.  
  
The rest of the time the omega was strangely absent, claiming he needed to attend to some important research. Arthur had prodded, but the other man had seemed entirely too resistant about telling him, so the alpha had given up.  
  
Then, one day, Alfred stormed in looking more livid than Arthur had ever seen him before.  
  
"Ah... what's wrong, love?" The alpha asked hesitantly, slightly amused at this flustered and angry version of the omega.  
  
"They know!" Alfred said, frustration evident in his voice. "Everyone  _knows_."  
  
Arthur frowned, brows furrowing together. "Everyone knows  _what_...?"  
  
The omega shook his head as if in disbelief before pulling his tablet out of the bag at his side. Immediately he brought to life a holographic projection of what Arthur could identify as a news article. He couldn't read the text but...  
  
There was a picture of his face in full color, yet... he was asleep behind tinted blue glass...  
  
Was that from when they had found him?  
  
"This article goes on and on about you!" Alfred raged and Arthur had to take a moment to appreciate the fact that he could retain his grammatical clarity even while upset. He felt a little proud of him, really.  
  
"What does it say, exactly?"  
  
"Everything! Where we found you, how we woke you, what you were told, your file information, and even that we're  _bloody_  courting!" Alfred exclaimed as Arthur winced. Some words he had wished Alfred didn't learn from him.  
  
"And... I take it this is bad?" He asked, knowing the answer. Alfred just glowered at him so he put his hands up defensively. He may have been an alpha, but that only meant he was  _especially_  cautious towards an omega enraged.  
  
"This is literally the worst thing that could have happened. My father has been harassed with messages all day from the other royal families. They want to know if it's true and why we did not tell them." Alfred flopped back onto the bed with an angry groan.  
  
Arthur studied the boy, expression drawn. "And?"  
  
"And what?" Alfred growled, and Arthur chuckled slightly before moving to the bed and ruffling his hair.  
  
"I know you're upset. And... I believe I understand. This puts me in danger, doesn't it?"  
  
Alfred hid his head slightly in the bed spread, seemingly ashamed for being so transparent. "Yes..."  
  
"It was bound to happen eventually."  
  
"I know."  
  
"So what happens now?"  
  
Alfred rolled onto his back and rubbed at his temples. "Well... now we have to formally announce you or... they will just start sending spies..."  
  
Arthur didn't like the sound of that. "How might one go about doing that?"  
  
"They won't believe you are real until they meet you in person. My father wants to hold a formal party to... 'show you off', you might say."  
  
Of course with the implication that his life was in danger, Arthur felt a bit wary, but Alfred seemed completely  _furious_. He didn't even need to ask  _why_ because suddenly Alfred was venting of his own accord:  
  
"We are not mated. They know this and even if you are court me," Arthur winced at the error but said nothing, "you can stop if they convince you to. But I found you--  _you're mine_. I will not let them take you away."  
  
Arthur stared at the omega, feeling less like a potential lover and more like a small toy the boy didn't want to share. It was that strange possessiveness that made his hackles proverbially rise up. "You have very little faith in me, Alfred." He said, beginning to feel an inkling of irritation. "I am not your possession. I don't belong to  _anyone_. I--,"  
  
"You _belong_ to _me!_ " Alfred cut him off, sitting up on the bed with a jerk. His face was red and his eyes dark, but whatever his intention was it didn't matter as Arthur felt his authority challenged.  
  
"No, I don't!" He bit back, just as loud. "I  _am_  my own man, Alfred. I've let you isolate me here, but I  _promise you_ , I would have been gone if I had decided not to tolerate it."  
  
What he said must have struck Alfred hard because the omega was up on his feet, fuming and posturing, "You are not in your own time! I watch over you like a pet and if I did not you would die. You  _are_  mine."  
  
Arthur wasn't sure why, but that was what finally made him snap. In moments he had Alfred pinned to the bed, his knee digging into the omega's back as he held one of the boy's arms pinned. The other arm was wedged underneath the omega's stomach and Alfred was frozen and submissive at the hand that grasped the back of his neck.  
  
There had been very few instances in Arthur's life where his alpha instincts had fully taken over, but he could say with certainty that this was one of those rare times.  
  
" _I am your alpha_." He growled into Alfred's ear and he could hear a whimper low in the omega's throat. The analytical side of his brain knew that his scent was probably overwhelmingly powerful in this moment, but that was not the side of him that was in control. "You  _do not_  challenge me. You  _do not_  own me.  _Know your place_."  
  
Alfred said nothing, but he was limp and obedient in Arthur's hold.  
  
" _Do you understand?_ "  
  
"Y- yes..." The omega faltered, breathless.  
  
Arthur loosened his grasp and Alfred relaxed slightly, but he didn't move from where he was pinning the other male to the bed. He felt deranged and out of control as he leaned forward and ground his teeth into omega's shoulder. Alfred exhaled a startled noise, but didn't move.  
  
Fuck, he felt aroused...  
  
His hands were exploring the body beneath him, one slipping under the omega's shirt to feel the soft skin of his back, another giving his arse a good squeeze. He knew he was courting this one... He knew he planned to mate this one... It was all just a matter of when that perfect little body started to writhe in the throes of heat--  
  
Something about the sheer _wrongness_ of the situation brought Arthur crashing back to reality and he wrenched himself off of the omega, breathing heavy. Alfred just stayed there on the bed, on his stomach, as though frozen in place.  
  
"I-- that--," Arthur trembled slightly and fisted his hands to keep them from shaking. "God,  _I'm so sorry_." He choked out before escaping to the washroom.  
  
He proceeded to throw himself into a cold shower, clothing and all.


	12. Desire

When Arthur returned from his impromptu shower, he found the bedroom empty.  
  
He sighed heavily, looking forlornly at his dripping clothes. This was such a special outfit and he had soaked it without a second thought...  
  
If he had ruined this as well, he would never live it down.  
  
Delicately, he removed the individual pieces of the outfit and hung them around the washroom to dry, but that left him with nothing but a towel that hung on the side wall. It felt a little like some kind of walk of shame but... without the walking aspect.  
  
Honestly, he just felt  _ashamed_.  
  
When he exited the washroom a second time, he nearly tripped over his own legs at the sight of Alfred standing there. Their eyes met and Arthur jerked his gaze away. It was normally a submissive gesture, but in this moment he didn't feel like he was the type of person to be touting around his alpha pride.  
  
"Look Alfred, I'm sorry--,"  
  
"Arthur, I just wanted to say--,"  
  
Silence. They looked at each other awkwardly, having both spoken at the same time.  
  
This time Alfred was the one to go first:  
  
"Arthur, I... I am sorry for... for saying the things I said..." He apologized, looking decidedly meek as though he were trying to make himself appear smaller. "It was wrong... You are not my pet... I just-- I am sorry..."  
  
Arthur shook his head. "If you are saying that due to my reaction--,"  
  
"No!" Alfred cut him off. Arthur faltered. "I... I know that alpha are..." He struggled for a moment. "I read all about alpha from your time. You are... You are much better than many of them, I think. You do not treat me like an object... You are even apologizing now... So I know--  _I know_  it was me who went too far. You cannot help your reaction like I cannot help," a breath, "submitting to it..."  
  
Arthur stared at him openly. He honestly hadn't expected this debacle to be resolved within half an hour, but here they were...  
  
He desperately hoped Alfred wasn't just doing this to retain him as their family alpha. He wanted to trust the other male, but the way he effortlessly apologized made him nervous.  
  
What was Alfred playing at here...?  
  
His silence must have made the omega falter because those blue eyes kept darting over to glance at him before looking away just as swiftly.  
  
"You are... not wearing clothes..." Alfred explained at his questioning glance.  
  
Well he was wearing a towel, but that was technically true.  
  
No, this bothered him too much to focus on that. "Alfred... why are you apologizing to me?"  
  
The boy in question looked at him, surprised, "It was my fault--,"  
  
"No, I mean... this is really sudden. I'm  _still_  reeling from the entire thing and I feel like a monster, but you're already willing to apologize? I simply don't understand your motivation..."  
  
That seemed to hit home because Alfred's expression melted into one of embarrassment and he glanced away, face a bright red. "I- I.."  
  
Arthur waited patiently.  
  
"It... I just..." Alfred shook his head, clamming up for a moment. Suddenly he took a breath and looked at Arthur, blushing with a look of determination. "What you did-- Do it again. I- I want to... I want to experience more... more alpha and omega interactions..."  
  
... That was not what he had expected  _at all_.  
  
"Alfred do you realize what it is you're saying...?"  
  
The omega nodded quickly, "I- I know I should be mad... perhaps... at what you did..." He squirmed on his feet, uncomfortable, "but it really... I guess I really...  _liked it_... somehow..."  
  
What.  
  
What,  _really_?  
  
Was this really happening?  
  
Arthur swallowed, uncertain. "You... Y- you  _liked_  me pinning you to the bed?"  
  
The blush on the omega's face doubled as Arthur felt his own cheeks heating up. "Y- yes..." Those blue eyes glanced up at him and the alpha suddenly felt breathless. "Is that strange?"  
  
Was it?  
  
Arthur wracked his brain for an answer.  
  
An omega in heat was dominated ritually until the pheromones died down, but did omegas like that kind of attention even when they weren't overwhelmed with hormones? Did they like being ground roughly into beds by their alphas?  
  
He'd never thought about it before, but at his prolonged silence he could only offer Alfred the words, "I really don't know."  
  
The omega looked faintly uncomfortable with that answer, "I- if it is weird, I will just forget... I will just, uh..."  
  
Arthur shook his head. "No, if... if it's something you're interested in... but..." He hesitated, awkward. "Is that something you want? More physical contact...?"  
  
What a lovely way to phrase sex.  
  
"I... I would not... be opposed..."  
  
That was a yes.  
  
Dear lord, they had been dancing around this issue for  _far too bloody long_. Ever since that little stint in the plaza...  
  
They were both adults here, weren't they!?  
  
"We'll... figure something out." He said, throat tight. Arthur wasn't sure how to react to his, but he knew that an omega coming onto him like this was in no way a bad thing. Yes, he still thought there was a possibility this was just to ensure he stay with the family... and if so it was exceedingly manipulative but...  
  
He truly  _did_  find Alfred endearing. He didn't want to live his days consumed with suspicion...  
  
So he let the idea go entirely. From the bit of his scent that reached him, Alfred really was exceptionally nervous right now. There was nothing conniving about that.  
  
The omega broke the silence with a pointed clearing of his throat. "You... should put on clothes..." He said, looking away awkwardly.  
  
It took Arthur a moment to realize what Alfred was talking about...  
  
The little tent his erect penis was making out of the towel.  
  
... Fuck, how long had  _that_  been there?


	13. Indulgence

Things were a little awkward between Alfred and Arthur.  
  
After the discussion earlier, he'd been given a spare set of clothes as his suit was sent to be cleaned, but despite their proximity and the resolution to their minor row, Arthur couldn't quite bring himself to act on anything Alfred had said. And for some reason that truly bothered him. He didn't feel like he was  _scared_... Nervous, perhaps, but certainly not fearful. Yet when he looked across the room at his companion, the man engaged distractedly in some books, he felt hesitation.  
  
It wasn't that he didn't want to make a move, he just... wasn't sure  _how_. Every time he thought about, it his heart beat quickened and his palms felt clammy...  
  
They ended up awkwardly avoiding the topic until it was time for bed, but as he got under the covers he felt a strange sense of expectation settle over them. The room was dark, illuminated solely by some kind of faint projection of the night sky that blanketed the ceiling. He'd already spent countless nights falling asleep under those fake constellations, but tonight he was looking past them.  
  
Arthur felt the bed shift as Alfred turned over and he suddenly became acutely aware of the omega staring at him. Arthur met those inquisitive blue eyes as a silent question passed between them.  
  
God, he wanted this... Truly... He was surrounded by Alfred's scent and although he'd gotten used to it, it felt like his entire body had taken to it as though this were his mate-to-be. And that really was what Alfred was, wasn't he? His 'someday' mate?  
  
All it took was a heat to solidify everything. He would hardly be able to resist himself when the time came, indecision or no. He longed for that silky golden hair and rich, flawless skin. How many times had he found himself caught in the memory of their kiss in the courtyard? How many times did he day dream about those soft hands in his as he led a slow and gentle waltz?  
  
He felt a possessive heat ripple through him at the thought and he took a long, shuddered breath.  
  
The omega wanted to fall in love with Arthur, but did they really even need to try? The chemistry was there... The desire was there... They just had to take the plunge...  
  
He didn't even care if this was some clever game to monopolize the world's only alpha. It didn't matter anymore, did it? Alfred could have slyly led him on, as unlikely as that seemed, but that didn't change the fact that Arthur  _still_  wanted him. If this were a game, then he had lost. And he could do nothing but accept that.  
  
And moreover, he trusted him too much to believe that this could be anything but  _genuine_. Perhaps it was foolish, but if so he would gladly be a fool.  
  
"Arthur..." Alfred murmured softly and the alpha felt his resistance crumbling to pieces. He wanted to touch him-- to taste those pale lips and the light tan of his smooth neck...  
  
Another deep breath. "Alfred..." He began, looking back up at the stars. "Do you want me to..." He couldn't bring himself to finish that sentence, but it turned out he needn't say a thing.  
  
The omega shuffled over under the covers until he was next to Arthur and close enough that he could have rested his head on the alpha's chest if he had wanted to. "Arthur I... I do not know how to explain this feeling..." Alfred said, exhaling hot breaths against the alpha's arm. "I feel strange when... when you are around. Unsettled... I read that... that this kind of attraction is normal..."  
  
Arthur felt frozen. His entire body was aflame with a desperate feeling he couldn't process. If he moved... he wasn't sure he would be able to stop himself.  
  
"I want you to touch me..."  
  
His resolve shattered into so many stars in the sky.  
  
The next thing he knew he was straddling Alfred underneath the covers, their mouths preoccupied with a frenzied kiss that made him feel light-headed. His hands had somehow worked their way underneath the omega's nightshirt in order to get closer to that smooth, cool skin that covered his torso like sun-kissed marble over lithe muscles. And Alfred was moaning slightly into kiss and,  _oh Christ_ , why had they waited so damn long?  
  
" _Mngh_ \-- a- ah Arthur..." Alfred panted breathlessly when their lips parted and it took a moment for the alpha to realize that he was grinding against the other man, his efforts rewarded with a telltale hardness that met his own.  
  
Alfred was peering up at him in the darkness, face flushed and neck exposed invitingly, as though he wanted to be mated right then and there. Arthur couldn't help leaning forward to tease the flesh with small nips and bites, lapping heatedly at the light bruises he left behind. He felt intoxicated as he marked him gently-- it was no mating bite, but that didn't make this part of Alfred any less sensitive to the ministrations. The omega was writhing beneath him, wanton mewls and moans falling from kiss bruised lips as his back arched. Alfred's slightly larger hands were starting to claw and tug at his own shirt and it took Arthur a moment longer to realize that the omega was trying to yank the fabric clean off of him.  
  
Releasing his omega's neck, now speckled with so many little pink bruises, Arthur shirked his nightshirt and returned the favor by freeing Alfred of his own. The omega's skin was slightly cooler than his as he pressed down against him and caught his lips in another lengthy kiss, his tongue dominating and exploring a mouth that tasted like velvet honey.  
  
He was drowning in sensation, his instincts a wild drum inside his rib cage, thrumming a heady, feral beat. " _Mine_..." He growled feverishly against Alfred's lips and the resulting whine that left the omega made his blood sing.  
  
Alfred  _wanted_  this.  
  
 _His omega wanted this_.  
  
It felt strange and exotic as he let himself loose, lips and teeth and tongue and hands worshiping the body underneath him, exploring his smooth chest and tasting his naval. Alfred was barely coherent, murmuring out soft cries in that other language, gripping at Arthur's hair, Arthur's body, the sheets-- anything, as though without purchase he might fall away.  
  
Arthur made a deep noise in his throat as he caught one of those hands in his, feeling with satisfaction as those fingers curled around his own and clenched tight. Alfred was _strong_... Alfred would bear wonderful, beautifully strong _children_...  
  
The thought of his omega in heat made Arthur's entire body reel with a sudden surge of need and he dug his hips firmly into Alfred's, feeling the omega's smaller length press into his thigh. Alfred's voice was a keening whine at the motion and Arthur felt far too starved of this body to resist tugging down thin, elastic banded nightclothes and the thick scent of arousal he won for it nearly made him dizzy.  
  
In the darkness it was difficult to really get a good look at the body beneath his, which frustrated Arthur as he pulled off the remainders of his own clothing, but once he was pressed flush to Alfred he could feel every inch of skin meeting his own and somehow sight could only pale in comparison.  
  
Alfred was gripping at his bare shoulders now and he could see those sky blue eyes clouded with need as he panted softly, out of breath. "A- Arthur... I..." He was struggling. "Empty... I need..."  
  
Something in Arthur softened at the desperate lull of Alfred's voice and he felt himself relax, the frenzy in his body dying down in favor of possessive concern.  _His_  omega was unhappy.  _His_  omega should be happy. "What do you want, love?" He said, his voice heavy and husky in a way he had never heard from himself before.  
  
"I- It hurts..." Alfred squirmed under him, legs pressing together and then sliding apart as though he wasn't sure what he wanted to do with them. "Inside. Hot. I _need_..."  
  
Arthur understood and quieted his frantic omega with a gentle, "Sh, sh... I know." Alfred was staring up at him, both imploring and questioning. He could feel those eyes burning into him as he took his own hand and inserted the fingers into his mouth, eliciting a strange, needy whine from Alfred. He sucked on the digits, ensuring they were properly soaked, before reaching down between the omega's legs and tracing the line of his buttocks.  
  
The action made Alfred's leg's twitch apart and Alfred arched his back slightly as though trying to press closer to those fingers. Arthur wasted no time in locating that delicate ring of muscle as he traced it with a saliva-coated finger. The noise Alfred made in response was obscene and Arthur felt his cock ache.  
  
Teasing at the opening, he inserted a finger all the way up to the knuckle, finding his breath short at the feeling of Alfred's body tightening around him as he cried out. The omega was squirming and twitching and  _arching_  into the penetration and Arthur experimentally prodded and stroked the inside of the other male with a deranged and vigilant fascination. Every noise the other made was carefully cataloged in his mind, burned deep into his senses.  
  
A twitch of his finger and he heard a choked, " _Arth_ \--," as Alfred's body jerked in one dramatic motion, a muffled scream of pleasure filling every space of the small room. Arthur couldn't help it-- he brushed his finger against the spot again. And again. And once more. And Alfred was crying and moaning as his body wracked with full bodied spasms and Arthur found it so desperately fascinating that he couldn't help but brush it  _one more time_ before inserting a second finger and scissoring them in a delicious stretch.  
  
Alfred's breathing hitched this time before a delightful whine of appreciation eased from his throat. " _More_..." The omega begged, and Arthur did not need to be told twice.  
  
A third finger was introduced and this time he could tell Alfred was pleased from the jerk of his hips as he tried to force Arthur's fingers deeper. The alpha settled his teeth on that shaking expanse of thigh and bit him, the sudden moan from the omega accompanied with a feverish thrusting of his fingers into Alfred's body.  
  
He was finger fucking the omega with a furious, jerking pace to meet those eager hips and he knew, logically, that Alfred could have been satisfied by this alone, but he withdrew his fingers from that glistening muscle as his omega gave made a clearly distressed noise.  
  
That was until he poised himself over the other, the head of his length pressed teasingly against the entrance. Alfred's breath hitched as Arthur hovered over him and the alpha watched in fascination as his omega's head fell back in submission.  
  
" _Please_..." Alfred begged helplessly, his hair clinging to his face in wet, blond clumps.  
  
Arthur wasted no time in fulfilling that request, a rough jerk of his hips plunging him inwards as he eased himself forward. Alfred was tight-- _incredibly so_ \--and the omega's body was rippling and clamping down on him as he sunk in to the hilt. Even the thicker base had been consumed by that greedy body and the alpha shuddered as he was squeezed.   
  
" _Oh fuck_... A- Alfred..." The omega felt  _incredible_  around him, all heat and fire and pressure, thick and wet and rippling. He knew sex with an omega was supposed to be good, but he had never imagined it would be  _this_  good. His entire body was shaking and he could feel droplets of sweat beading on his skin. " _Mine_..." He groaned, pressing his face to Alfred's collarbone as he tried to surround himself with more of that intoxicating scent, his hips beginning to rock into the omega with slow thrusts. He wanted to piston him until he was screaming but Arthur couldn't summon forth the energy-- he was so overwhelmed that he didn't want to risk coming right then and there.  
  
Still, what he  _was_  doing seemed to be driving Alfred right mad as the omega met him with every motion, body coiling and tensing as the muscles worked against his own. He was breathing in soft, breathy moans that made Arthur's blood simmer.  
  
Soon he felt confident enough to pick up the pace slightly, rolling his hips to meet Alfred's in languid, quick strokes, but he knew that with his inexperience he wouldn't be able to handle this for very long.  
  
A strangled cry from his omega's lips caused a shock to go through his body as he found Alfred's prostate and suddenly he couldn't help but to roughly aim for that spot, a wild fire of heat surging in him every time he managed to hit it. He felt control slipping away in seconds as he suddenly yanked Alfred's thighs up to penetrate him deeper, his senses consumed with by the omega.  
  
 _His omega_.  
  
 _His_.  
  
Arthur groaned, the noise deep in his throat as his hips jerked a clumsy rhythm. He felt close...  _So bloody close_...  
  
The feeling inside of him overflowed in one beautiful, wrenching moment and he plunged deep into Alfred and came. His body wracked with every single twitch, moaning a string of noise and sweet nothings as he spilled his seed into the omega. With a mindful shift of his hand he grabbed Alfred's smaller cock and began to pump him mercilessly, both surprised and not when the omega came instantly, coating his hands with milky-white fluid as the tanned body beneath him shook in the throes of orgasm.  
  
And then there was stillness as Arthur collapsed atop him, the only sound in the room that of heavy breathing as they both attempted to gain their bearings. Their flesh was sticky and plastered with sweat and they had made a proper mess of not only themselves but the sheets as well. As Arthur's length shifted free, he could feel his own liquid leaking out of Alfred and he purred with a satisfied noise as he nipped at the omega's stomach.  
  
Alfred was silent for a time, flushed and breathless, but he was the first to speak as he murmured an exhausted, "I understand now... why alpha and omega breed..."  
  
Arthur couldn't help the coy, "Oh...?" that fell from his lips as he bit and suckled at sweat-slicked skin.  
  
The omega struggled to contain a moan as he exhaled an emphatic, "Can we do that again?"


	14. Capture

Matthew knew the moment he saw them that something had happened and he wrinkled his nose in distaste as he stood in the doorway to Alfred's room. The two omegas were speaking to each other in their native tongue, Matthew looking sly and Alfred red-faced and flustered. It was completely obvious what they were discussing.  
  
Especially since Alfred was a bit of a  _loud_  one. It wasn't impossible that they had been overheard. And it was highly likely that the room still carried the scent of their acts.  
  
This also reassured him slightly. If Matthew had been congratulatory that would have been far more suspicious. No, instead he was acting as a brother should-- with  _disgust_.  
  
At least, that's how Arthur felt about the idea of any of his kin mating, dead as they may be now.  
  
The other omega left and Alfred sighed as the door slid shut with an inaudible click. Arthur grinned up at Alfred. He'd been in a brilliant mood since he'd woken up and somehow this entire scene struck him as  _funny_.  
  
The omega exhaled a noise that sounded like exasperation. "Matthew is a butt." Alfred said, expression turning into one of annoyance.  
  
"I didn't teach you that phrasing." Arthur noted.  
  
"No, I have been reading more. And Matthew is a butt." Alfred repeated, moving to sit on the bed. The omega's neck was spotted with a dozen little kiss bruises, much to Arthur's delight. Alfred didn't seem to care overly much and Arthur wagered that was because in this time period a hickey wasn't really such a common occurrence that others might find it funny. At least not ones like  _those_.  
  
Alpha marks had just that bit more of  _teeth_  to them, after all.  
  
Standing suddenly, Alfred stretched. "I have to go out for a few hours." He said by way of explanation. This was such a common occurrence lately that Arthur thought nothing of it. "My contact says he found a new dig site. I am hoping to reach it before someone else does."  
  
"Ah, I see." Arthur said awkwardly, feeling more like the homemaking omega in this relationship. Wasn't  _that_  a truly archaic notion?   
  
This room was stifling sometimes, but he had managed well enough...  
  
Alfred flashed him a smile and Arthur felt his heart perk up. "When I get back... you can teach me more about alpha, okay?"  
  
Arthur swallowed, suddenly hungry for something that wasn't food. "Okay."  
  
With that the omega left as Arthur wished him luck in his work.  
  
  
  
The first thing Arthur noticed when he woke up was that... he didn't remember falling asleep.  
  
The second thing Arthur noticed when he woke up was that he was no long in Alfred's room.  
  
A strangled bolt of panic flared through him as he jerked up into a sitting position-- or tried to. His chest met resistance and he noticed with a start that he was restrained. There was a broad swath of  _something_  tethering him down and his hands were bound over his head. His legs, too, seemed to be held down by something. The room around him was stark in its barrenness, much like the overly clean laboratory he had initially found himself in, but this place felt different... It had a different scent to it...  
  
It didn't carry the acidity of cleansers but was empty... it smelled of  _nothing_.  
  
Arthur's heart was hammering in his chest and he pushed away the idea of betrayal.  _No_ , Alfred wouldn't have let him end up in a position like this. There was no way. This had to be some sort of kidnapping...  
  
It could have been seconds or minutes but eventually a panel in the wall gave way--one which Arthur had though to be  _part of_  the wall--and an omega in a lab coat walked in smoothly on soft, quiet footsteps. He looked up at Arthur, eyes a dull, blank brown color and hair a sheen of black that came to meet the air above his shoulders. He was... very different from the people Arthur had seen around the palace and that only served to confirm his suspicions.  
  
He had been taken.  
  
"Kirkland." The person said, voice soft and male. "I see you are awake. That is very good."  
  
Arthur grimaced as the other man spoke, head reeling as though it took sheer effort simply  _understand_  him. "W--," His voice cut off in a wheezed crack from the absurd  _dryness_  of his throat.  
  
"Apologies. The treatment is quite new." The omega in the coat said, reaching for a side tray that Arthur hadn't noticed prior. He came away with a small cup of water and raised it to Arthur's mouth.  
  
The alpha pressed his lips together in a thin line, refusing. The scientist tutted and pulled the cup away, setting it down again.  
  
"You may be wondering where you are and what we are doing." The omega said, looking distractedly at a tablet, presumably containing information regarding him. "Do not worry. We will ensure you have a comfortable stay here."  
  
Arthur snarled, a deep, feral noise and the omega looked up with a start, a flash of emotion brightening those dead eyes before it disappeared again.  
  
"A shame. I was hoping to avoid the use of sedatives..." The omega said wistfully, giving Arthur a pointed look. The alpha backed down, narrowing his eyes. The scientist smirked softly. "You would do well to let what will happen, happen." He said conversationally, looking at the tablet again. "Once we are done, you will be with your omega again."  
  
"What... are you gonna do...?" Arthur managed to slur, his tongue feeling heavy and weighted in a strange way. He felt like the words he said didn't make sense and... and yet they did? The confusion clouding his brain was giving him a throbbing headache.  
  
"Oh." The scientist looked up at him, a faint look of interest on his face. "We are going to do many things, Kirkland."


	15. Test

The dark-haired omega had left him alone in the room after that. Arthur inspected his surroundings with a critical eye, but could find nothing that might aid him in escape. There was some kind of floating medical table at his side with vials of strange liquid and tools he didn't recognize. What he lay on felt to be cushioned and a turn of his head revealed that it was a dull and sanitary white color. The walls all looked seamless and had he not known better he would have still thought there was no door. The lights were bright, illuminating everything, and it only served to increase the already severe pounding in his head.  
  
Luckily he was still mostly clothed, if that was any consolation. His jacket and shirt were gone, as was his hat, but he still had pants and boots.  
  
As he was reflecting on what had become of his life, the door slid open again and this time a brunette woman entered with a bag in her hands. She smiled at him brightly and he sniffed, noting the strange scent of beta about her.  
  
"Oh, you're such a cutie!" She told him in perfect English and he stared at her as she walked up to his side and started to hang a bag on some sort of bar. He knew before he saw the tube that it was likely an IV.  
  
"What is that?" He rasped hoarsely, glaring.  
  
She frowned. "Oh, you should have been given water already." She went around to the other side of the table and offered him the water. When he refused, her frown deepened. "It has some pain killers in it for your head but nothing else, I swear."  
  
Throat agonizingly dry, Arthur stared at the water for a long moment before allowing her to press it to his lips. The cool flood of liquid down his throat felt _so good_  that he could have sighed. Once the cup was removed, he cleared his throat and said, "You didn't answer my question."  
  
The beta gave him an amused look. "Just some nutrients to get your strength up, dear."  
  
"Stop fucking with me." Arthur growled, glaring at her. "You're going to experiment on me? Fine. At least have the decency to tell me."  
  
"You  _are_  a fiery one." The girl said, putting her hands on her hips. He lab coat bunched up at the motion. She shook her head and moved to continue setting up the IV. "I suppose you'll figure it out soon enough anyway. We're going to get you settled in a nice rut. That's what they called it for you, right? These days it's referred to as frenzy..."  
  
The needle was slipped into the vein of his wrist before he could even react to those words.  
  
"You're what--!" Arthur balked, struggling against the restraints. She sighed, like a parent deeply troubled by the behaviour of a child. "You can't do that!"  
  
"We can and we are, Kirkland. You must understand that in this time there are no alphas to protect with such laws. Oh, putting an  _omega_  in heat without consent is illegal, but putting an alpha in rut? You'd be hard pressed to find anyone willing to care to defend you..." The words were stated so matter-of-fact-ly that Arthur could scarcely believe she could say such terrible things with a smile on her face.  
  
He wasn't sure if it was psychosomatic or if his face was really getting warmer, but the needle in his arm stung as it filled him with foreign fluids. "That's disgusting." He spat.  
  
She shrugged. "Perhaps. We're not going to force mate you, if that's what you're afraid of. We just want to collect some samples. You'll be doing the world a lot of good, Kirkland. Saving lives. Don't you want to be a hero?"  
  
"Don't you fucking play games with me. This is nothing but a selfish endeavor and you know it. What-- going to sell my seed off to the highest bidder? Make a bit of cash? You take me for a fool, don't you?"  
  
The brunette woman was glaring at him now, warmth gone from her eyes. "People are dying and you would rather take the side of a family housing humanity's only hope? I pity you, Kirkland. You let those disgusting people fill your head with lies. Mating? Breeding? You'd have one omega carry the world on his shoulders when you could be saving it yourself with a single orgasm. You say this is disgusting? Well I have news for you." Her gaze turned venomous, " _You_  disgust me."  
  
With those parting words, she turned on her heel and left.  
  
  
  
Once the beta had gone, Arthur had had a lot to think about.  
  
Yet thinking was becoming an increasingly difficult task as time went on. He was sure he was being observed somehow, as the absence of any personnel left him suspicious, but there was nothing he could do about it.  
  
His body felt hot and his breathing turned ragged as he panted quietly in the silent room. It was humiliating to be bound like this, forced into a chemical-induced state of rut. His mind was all muddled and his clothing felt tight and chafing. He was half-hard just from the small touch of friction he had unintentionally caused every time he struggled against the bondage.  
  
He'd never been with an omega in heat and, therefore, had never experienced the rut that drove alphas to claim their mates, but he could tell from the way he simmered with need that being put in one without an omega around was akin to torture. His entire body felt this terrible ache of confusion, as though there was something it wanted but it couldn't figure out what.  
  
And his mind only really made the entire thing worse. Try as he might, he couldn't get Alfred out of his head. They'd had sex so  _bloody_  recently that he could taste it and the more he tried not to think about the curve of his thighs or the heavenly-sweet scent of his neck, the more he  _did_  think about it.  
  
Fully hard, his cock throbbed in his pants and as embarrassing as it was he really just wanted to rub against  _something_.  
  
Yet there was nothing, no one, and no relief.  
  
And the drip just kept going as drop after drop was drained into his body.  
  
Yet this was nothing.

Over the next few hours, the mild feeling of restlessness evolved into agony.


	16. Communication

Arthur's mind was a battlefield of psychological spears and blood-- figurative men dead and dying in muddied waters as their fellows stepped over them to fight an enemy that couldn't be seen. Blades crackling against empty air as one by one his defenses fell to waste and his mind was corrupted by lust and need. He felt a man possessed by demons, urges in him snarling like wolves as instinct clashed teeth with dignity.  
  
He was losing. This wasn't rut--  _this was hell_.  
  
Whatever they had given him had been wrong. It had to have been wrong. This wasn't right. His body was screaming at him so he was screaming at the room in turn. It was empty, white walls void of life. If he found an omega now... what would he do with it?  
  
He was a disgusting creature. He shouldn't be like this.  
  
He could  _hurt_  people.  
  
This wasn't humanity. Could he even speak anymore? Were words even a thing he was capable of? Growling and snarling and foaming-- those he could do. Those he _was_ doing. Yet could he speak?  
  
Did he have the power to tell someone to run before it was too late?  
  
The door snapped open, the noise loud in his ears like a thousand feet pounding on the ground in simultaneous assault. He jerked his head towards it and snarled, straining against his bondage.   
  
The figures were wearing full-bodied suits. They were threats. They would debase him. A single touch and his seed would flood and drown his battlefield in defeat. The only thing he could do was thrash--  
  
 _Don't come near me.  
  
I'm dangerous._  
  
"Oh god, he's completely gone..." One of the suits said, hesitating.  
  
The other shoved the first, "C'mon, we have to get him out of here quickly. We can figure out what they did to him later..."  
  
"R- right..." The first suit said.  
  
It made Arthur's head pound to listen to them, but the voices were ones he knew. Was he imagining it? Could it be so perfect that Alfred and Matthew would be here? It was impossible. A cruel and twisted, drug-induced dream. How could he be saved this easily? Was he even being saved? Was he not dooming the world?  
  
A needle pricked his arm and he jerked but a hand held his wrist firm to keep it from thrashing. "Calm down, Arthur..." And this time the voice was distinct. Definitely Alfred. It rang clear in his ears, like day. "We're here to save you."  
  
Arthur relaxed slightly. He couldn't smell their scents at all, which made him cautious, but that was infinitely better than the alternative. An omega scent now was only a catalyst. It would only drive him further into frenzy.  
  
Things started to go dark, but it was blissful in a way. The pain couldn't follow him here. The fear couldn't follow him here. His demons were slipping away into dust as his soldiers disappeared. Sweet, sweet, nothingness.  
  
And then no more.  
  
  
  
He woke to the sounds of voices and a headache that dominated any hangover that he might have ever had. And he groaned.  
  
"Oh, he's awake!" It was a warbled noise, but one he could just faintly grasp. His head pounded in his skull fiercely and he was beyond grateful to hear the words, "Pain killers... He needs pain killers..."  
  
He opened his eyes blearily, his body already seizing with a feeling of need but... it was less now. Significantly. Blissfully.  _This_  felt normal.  _This_  felt controllable...  
  
The room came into focus and he realized he was in a place he didn't recognize on a bed that smelled only of him. The decor read palace, however, so it wasn't very hard to figure out where he was.  
  
He shifted slightly and, at the clinking of metal, he realized that he was wearing loose restraints. He couldn't even find room to complain, but a cup and some pills were shoved at him and he took them without question.  
  
Forcing himself to focus on the figures in front of him, he looked up to find the openly worried faces of Alfred and Matthew.  
  
"Dude... He doesn't look so good..." Alfred said, lips pulling into a frown.  
  
"Yes, well he  _has_  been through a lot." Matthew replied.  
  
Arthur stared at them, perplexed. There was something very distinctly off about all of this. It felt surreal.  
  
Alfred interrupted his thoughts, however, by stepping forward warily. "Arthur... You are alright?"  
  
"Er..." The alpha worked his lips for a moment, as though he'd forgotten how to speak. Then he found it again. "Yes. Quite."  
  
"That is good." Alfred said. His face turned apologetic. "We had to use the restraints just in case. I am sorry. We cannot take them off until you are better."  
  
From the fact that he already had a terribly painful erection just from the scent and presence of the two omegas, he blushed. "Yes that is-- that is for the best..."  
  
Matthew was looking at him critically but then his gaze shifted to Alfred. "Don't take advantage of him while he's like this."  
  
Arthur's face turned dark red, but so did Alfred's.  
  
" _Oh my god_ , shut up. I told you already, it's not like that. We slept together  _one time_. One time! And I mean-- yeah, it was pretty fucking awesome, but that's not the point. I'm not an ass. Besides maybe he would be up for it-- but that's not the point! I told you not to bring that up here."  
  
The other omega just smiled a sly little smile and wriggled slightly as he said, "You  _liiiike_  him..."  
  
"..." Arthur was gaping at them. He had never seen either speak in such a way before him. Prior, Matthew had been quite proper and Alfred had been fairly well-behaved, but this? And in front of him. He cleared his throat slightly, looking away as he gave them a very awkward, and secretly aroused, "I- I'm honoured you feel as you do Alfred, truly, but now may be a less than opportune time to discuss all this..." His tongue felt oddly heavy and strange, like it was tripping over itself, but he blamed nerves and the tender heat of his arousal for that.  
  
His words were met with dead silence.  
  
After a long moment he turned back to gaze at them, only to find both brothers staring at him with a look of shock and some mortification.  
  
"... What?" Arthur tensed, suddenly very concerned that he had just done something terribly wrong.  
  
Alfred was the first to speak. "Arthur... You..." He was just gaping at him, hand gesturing loosely for words he couldn't quite find. "You can... _understand_ us?"  
  
Arthur furrowed his brow. "I wasn't so drugged as to lose my ability to speak English." He said, slightly indignant.  
  
Matthew's face was perplexed and drawn, as though he was trying to work something out in his head.   
  
Finally he said, "Arthur... we're not speaking English."


	17. Change

"... I beg your pardon?" Arthur said, dubious. This had to have all been some sort of elaborate trick. He couldn't speak any other language-- he only knew  _English_.  
  
Alfred looked torn between mild humiliation, shock, and befuddlement while Matthew settled for a more thoughtful expression. It was the latter who spoke first, "Arthur... you're speaking our language right now. Fluently, I might add."  
  
"There's a bit of an accent..." Alfred added, but Matthew waved a hand to shush him.  
  
"Do you have any idea why you can do this now? You couldn't before. Even if you had spent your entire time here studying it, you would be nowhere near this level."  
  
Arthur took a breath, trying to wrap his head around this. Quite honestly, the throbbing in his mind was already too much for him to get any real thought in. "I... don't know..." He said slowly, carefully, as though trying to understand it. His tongue still felt strange, like he wasn't used to making... whatever sounds he  _was_  making. "To my ears it sounds like we're all speaking English."  
  
"Brain wave manipulation..." Matthew hissed under his breath, biting the knuckle of his hand as he glared out at nothing.  
  
Alfred looked between the two and must have decided to explain since Matthew looked lost in thought, "That's... changing the structure of how your brain interprets information. If it sounds like English to you, then... someone tampered with your mind in order to make that happen. It's really fucking illegal."  
  
" _Especially_  non consensual operations." Matthew added, looking livid. "Oh, yes it can be  _convenient_  but it could have easily  _killed_  you..."  
  
Arthur just stared at the two, trying to absorb all of this. He swallowed to wet his throat and then said, "Why would they--?"  
  
"I don't know." Matthew answered honestly. "You're like this now, however. Reversing the procedure is out of the question. Whoever did this spent a lot of money and did a damn good job of it, so you're stuck with it. It'll take you  _weeks_  to recover mentally as it is..."  
  
Something occurred to Arthur and he looked up at the two with a jolt, "How did I end up in that laboratory? What happened?"  
  
Alfred's expression turned grim, but Matthew just shook his head. This time Alfred answered him, "I think... we need to talk about things first. I'll send some food in for you and then we'll, um..." He paused, searching for words, "talk... I guess."  
  
Unsatisfied but too tired to fight it, Arthur just took a deep breath before nodding and allowing the two omegas to retreat from the room.  
  
Now that he thought about it, he felt bloody  _exhausted_.  
  
Laying back in the bed, he let himself settle into the large, plush pillows. Unlike in Alfred's bedroom, there was a large window in this one and it appeared to overlook the garden. He watched some of the strange birds flutter about outside in the synthetic sunlight.  
  
He was tired... and his head hurt... and his cock was aching hard from the scent of omega that still lingered in the room.  
  
Despite all of this, he fell into a restless sleep.  
  
  
  
Arthur woke again to the smell of food and something cool resting on his forehead. Blinking his eyes open, he felt as the compress was removed. Trying to clear his head, he rubbed at his face as he sat up.  
  
"Morning, sleepyhead..."  
  
Arthur jerked his head towards the sound, finding Alfred sitting on the edge of the bed with a hovering platter of breakfast behind him. It took him all of a moment to remember their last conversation and he blinked owlishly, trying to get his mind to start working again.  
  
"Ah... good morning..."  
  
Alfred's lips curled into a wry smile. "You're speaking my language again... but you were murmuring in English in your sleep."  
  
Arthur flushed, "Was I?"  
  
"Yeah... Matt said that maybe you're triggered to switch when you hear someone else speaking. Sounds believable enough..."  
  
This felt very, very strange, talking to Alfred like this. "I see..."  
  
"Does your head hurt?"  
  
"A little." Was Arthur's instantaneous response. "Well..." He hesitated before, " _a lot_ , actually."  
  
Alfred handed him some pills and a glass of water, which Arthur took eagerly. "They really did a number on you. We had someone scan the changes made to make sure that they didn't tamper with anything else, but it seems they only went after the language center of your brain. We still don't know why..."  
  
This was a lot to process. Arthur wasn't sure he was comfortable with people  _scanning his brain_  while he slept, but he wasn't about to beat around the bush with nonsense like that, "Why was I kidnapped?"  
  
The omega stared at him, blue eyes searching green for a long moment before he sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Now that Arthur was paying attention, he noticed that Alfred looked a touch sleep deprived. "It... was my fault. The call to the dig site was a fake sent to separate me from you. I didn't even realize it until I was there, which is really fucking stupid of me... I was calling all of my guys but it wasn't going through so that's when I got suspicious. By the time I got back you'd already been captured."  
  
Arthur let him talk, soaking up every word. Despite the context and despite how much his head was pounding... there was just something so utterly  _refreshing_  about hearing someone speak casually and naturally. It was a far cry from the awkward, rigid English he was used to.  
  
"Matt was already working on tracking you down when I got here-- apparently they'd sent him a decoy too, but he figured it out a lot sooner than I did. We mobilized the royal army to storm the building, but when we found you... well..." Alfred inhaled a deep breath, looking haggard, "it was too late."  
  
"Too late?" Arthur echoed, slightly haunted by the fact that he had just made it sound as though he were dead.  
  
"The, uh-- the  _rut_  was... well... you know." The omega was blushing now, not looking at him. "You were just screaming and stuff and it was...  _really fucking terrifying_. I'll be perfectly honest: I thought you would have ripped my hand off or something. But Matt said some shit about courting and it was my  _job_  and I had to be  _responsible_  and blah, blah, blah..."  
  
Arthur wasn't sure if he should feel thankful or annoyed and Alfred must have sensed this because he hurried to continue.  
  
"But, uh... this was all my fault so... and I couldn't leave you like that..." He swallowed, looking pained as he glanced up at Arthur. "I'm really sorry. I'll understand if you, um... can't forgive me for getting you involved in all of this..."  
  
Arthur was quiet for a moment.  
  
It was true that that had been one of the most painful and horrific moments of his life and having someone to blame it on would have been nice, but Alfred was most certainly not that person.  
  
He exhaled an exasperated laugh. "You're a right moron." He said. Alfred shrunk in on himself slightly, but Arthur continued, "Why would I blame you for this?"  
  
"I should have taken better care of you... I'm you're omega..."  
  
Oh how novel that sentiment was for an alpha to hear. Yet there was something strangely intimate about Alfred calling himself  _his_  omega and it made his face heat slightly. "Yes, and well... you got me back, didn't you?"  
  
"Yeah, but--,"  
  
"No buts. You rescued me. End of discussion." The alpha pressed. He shifted where he sat in the bed, slightly uncomfortable by the fact that he was still in the midst of a rather nasty rut. It seemed an omega that wasn't in heat was much easier to resist than one that was, for what it was worth, but that didn't change the fact that his cock was still quite hard and his head was still quite muzzy with indecent thoughts.  
  
This entire time he had been periodically thinking back to their former escapades and how gloriously Alfred had writhed under him in bed.  
  
The omega was quiet, looking thoughtful. "It... hurts doesn't it?"  
  
"What?" Arthur said, not following.  
  
"Ah, um..." Alfred pointed at his lower body, which was hidden by heavy blankets.  
  
Arthur turned ten shades of red, "Yes-- well, that's-- that's all par for the course, really..."  
  
Alfred was quiet, but it made Arthur fidget with the way the omega was just  _staring_  at where he presumed Arthur's crotch to be. "Do you... want me to help you with it...?"  
  
The alpha blinked, "... Pardon?"  
  
He had a sneaking suspicion that this was a spur of the moment idea on Alfred's behalf, because the omega seemed to realize what he was saying, blushed profusely, and stammered out a, "W- well it  _is_  my fault and... I..." His eyes trailed back to Arthur's lower half again, like a moth to flame, "I wouldn't... mind..."  
  
Arthur had been so caught up in worrying about his rut that he had forgotten about the effects it had on omegas too. "You're likely just being enticed by my pheromones. Are you really sure you want to do something like this...?"  
  
The omega's scent was already piqued with sweet arousal as he gave a breathless, "Yeah."  
  
How the hell could Arthur resist that? He sighed and shifted over to make room.  
  
Alfred nearly jumped into the bed with him.


	18. Lust

As sweet as Alfred's scent had been, it had nothing on the taste of his skin, succulent and slick under his tongue as he nipped lightly at the omega's collarbone. He was still chained to the bed with shackles that, while light and airy, seemed very sturdy, but that barely hindered his movement.  
  
Alfred was on top of him, still clothed but ruffled, small breathy gasps on his lips as he buried his face into Arthur's hair and squirmed against him. While his body might have been just the slightest bit larger, he was still as cute and soft as any omega. Perhaps even more so. " _Nngh_... A- Arthur..."  
  
The alpha found Alfred's earlobe and suckled on it, letting a canine tooth drag along the soft cartilage as the omega whined. "What do you want me to do to you...?" Arthur exhaled against his ear, feeling Alfred shiver. Now that he could understand him, it made Alfred so much more arousing to listen to.  
  
"I- I..." The omega struggled, face turning a brilliant red. Arthur let his hand wander to cup the curve of the other male's arse and was rewarded with a beautiful moan. "There-- I- I want you there again..."  
  
" _Inside of you_...?" Arthur teased, kneading that soft flesh under his hand through the fabric of his pants.  
  
Alfred keened against him, grinding softly. "Yeah...  _Mn_ \-- i- inside..."  
  
The door flew open and Matthew strode in, "Alfred, you said you would only take a minute-- at this rate we'll be late... for..."  
  
Arthur stared at Matthew as Matthew stared back at him. Alfred appeared to be trying to disappear as he buried his face in the alpha's chest.  
  
A beat of awkward silence rang heavy in the room.  
  
Deciding on a course of action, Arthur gripped Alfred harder, letting his fingers drift closer to the omega's aching hole as the other male gave a soft, uncontrolled whine in response. "As you can see we're busy at the moment, but after I fuck him senseless I'll be sure to return him to you." Normally he would have never uttered such vulgarity towards someone who had only been kind to him, but he was an alpha in rut and Alfred was his promised mate and he refused to give Matthew a chance to separate them at this point.  
  
The other omega's face had turned a fine scarlet and he stumbled over his own words as he managed some kind of embarrassed excuse and ducked out of the room.  
  
" _Oh my god_..." Alfred exhaled against him, speechless. "I can't believe you said that to him. Fuck, he's going to go straight to dad and tell him. He's such a gossip..."  
  
"I hardly care about that." Arthur muttered, remorseless. "In fact, I rather wish you would have been naked. Then he could have seen all the marks I left on you from last time."  
  
Alfred made a scandalized noise in his throat before it turned into something of a laugh. "Were all alphas from your time like this?"  
  
Arthur made a noncommittal noise. "I'm like this. You're mine and he was interrupting us." He returned to suckling at the omega's ear before going in for a kiss to stop whatever protest the other might have had.  
  
The omega relaxed against him, allowing him free roam of his mouth as he explored every velvety nook and smooth tooth. Pulling away, he nuzzled Alfred's cheek and the omega chuckled softly, "Are you marking me...?"  
  
"Marking you?" Arthur repeated, too content with feeling that soft, cool flesh against his own.  
  
"I read that alphas try to cover their mates in their scent." A pause, "We're not mates but--,"  
  
"We might as well be." Arthur said, rut clouding his mind and loosening his tongue. "I won't accept anyone else."  
  
Alfred went quiet at that, but after a moment he gave a pleased sighed and nuzzled back slightly, much to Arthur's delight.  
  
"You're wearing too much." Arthur grumbled lightly, pulling at Alfred's shirt. The omega moved to help him remove it and it slid off effortlessly. "Better but..." He tugged at the pants.  
  
"What if someone comes in again?"  
  
"If they're smart, then they won't." Arthur said simply. "And if they're not, then they deserve whatever it is that they see." Soon the pants were gone and his omega was completely bare, garments discarded.  
  
"What about you?" Alfred said, looking at Arthur's fully clothed body. The restraints made it impossible to remove everything completely, but it was no matter.  
  
Arthur reached down and tugged the pants he wore to his thighs, his erection standing thick and tall. "We'll do it like this... and you'll get on top." The alpha said, openly pleased about this plan.  
  
"It looks bigger now..." Alfred said, prodding the bulb at the base of his length.  
  
Arthur hissed at the feeling, the skin tender. "Rut is supposed to be a reaction to an omega in heat, yes? We can only hope I don't end up knotting you like this..."  
  
The look the omega gave him almost made him laugh, but he managed to restrain it.  
  
"I'm sure the possibility is very low." He amended. "It takes an omega's body to stimulate it into doing such a thing..."  
  
Alfred visibly relaxed. "So, uh... preparing...?"  
  
"We can do it like last time."  
  
"Ah... I... bought something for that, um..."  
  
"Oh?"  
  
The omega leaned over to his discarded clothing, pulling free a bottle of what Arthur could only guess was lube.  
  
The alpha grinned, "Did you  _plan_  this--?"  
  
"No! I just... I just wanted to be prepared, is all. People don't really do this kind of thing anymore, so I even had to special order. I just read in a book that--"  
  
" _Uh huh_..." Arthur said, unconvinced. Still, he took the bottle without complaint and poured some of it onto his hand. It was already warm and he smiled at the inventive nature of the future. "Turn around, love."  
  
Alfred hesitantly did as he was asked, exposing himself reluctantly to the alpha.  
  
Wasting no time, Arthur eased in an eager finger and felt a heat flare up in his chest as Alfred gave a throaty, blissful  _moan_.  
  
Oh, how he was going to enjoy this.


	19. Relief

Arthur admired the delightful curves of Alfred's thighs as he slid the lube-slicked finger deep into his omega, relishing the way it caused his soon-to-be-mate to come undone. "When you're in heat we won't need to do this." He said heatedly, gripping the skin of his thigh as he wriggled the finger inside of him. "You'll be dripping with heat slick..."  
  
" _Oh god_..." Alfred moaned, squirming. "I- I don't,  _nnh_... I don't know what that i- is..."  
  
The alpha gently added a second finger and felt the tight muscle clench and squeeze before it relaxed. Scissoring him lightly, he said, "You'll self-lubricate in anticipation. Oh-- you'll be  _so wet_  we'll have to change the sheets every other hour. It'll just keep coming and coming-- just like me  _inside of you_  once I have you knotted proper."  
  
Alfred made a sinfully delicious sound.  
  
"I'll bite your neck so hard your ancestors will feel it. You'll be marked as mine-- you'll smell like me..." He let his fingers curl up to where he knew the omega's prostate was, rewarded with a strangled cry for his efforts. "I'll fill you up and you'll be so pregnant you won't be able to walk..."  
  
"P-  _please_..." Alfred gasped, begging.  
  
"What do you want, poppet?" Arthur purred.  
  
"I want you inside-- now,  _ah_ , please..."  
  
"You're not ready."  
  
Alfred made a frustrated noise. "I don't care!"  
  
Chuckling, Arthur removed his fingers as he let his hands wander that perfect arse. "Straddle me, then." He told him, and Alfred did as commanded, turning to face Arthur as he eagerly swung a leg over his lap. Arthur shifted his cock so that the head was teasing the omega's entrance. "Lower yourself." He said.  
  
And then Alfred did and  _oh god_  he hadn't expected it to feel  _that_  good and  _fuck_. The alpha's fingers dug into the omega's hips as Alfred sunk onto him, only stopping once the cock was fully sheathed even down to the bulb at the end which had slid in with a satisfying, yet lewd,  _stretch_.  
  
Alfred was shaking, his entire body rosy-red from arousal flush as he panted from exertion. Arthur stared up at him appreciatively, "You're so fucking beautiful." He said, unable to help himself as he gave a small, teasing  _roll_  of his hips.  
  
The omega barked out a quiet yelp of pleasure as his spine curled and he gripped at the sheets at Arthur's sides. "This feels--... this feels--,"  
  
"Different?"  
  
"Y- yeah..."  
  
Arthur jerked his hips again, making Alfred cry out as his head snapped up. "My hormones are probably sensitizing your body. I'm in rut... and you can feel it." He started to rock his hips now in earnest as Alfred took every thrust with a not-so-soft cry. "You can feel every inch, can't you? You might be on top but  _I'm_  so  _bloody_  deep inside of you. Can you feel it? Can you feel how close I am to your uterus? If you were in heat I would fill you until you burst. You'd be my filthy, beautiful mess.  _Oh god_ , I  _love_  you..."  
  
Alfred eyes snapped open but before he could say anything Arthur jerked his hips to see just how deep he could go into that lithe, pliant body, and the omega choked on a moan as he presumably hit the other male's most sensitive spot.  
  
So he kept hitting it. Again. And  _again_. His hands were gripping Alfred's wrists for leverage as he bucked up into him until the omega was screaming.  
  
"A- Ar-- I--," Alfred struggled as Arthur kept up his unrelenting pace, the message only going through as hot, wet spurts of semen shot free of the omega's cock, painting Arthur's stomach in a heated mess.   
  
The walls of the omega's body shuddered around his girth in tight tremors and the alpha felt as his orgasm was forced and he came as well, unable to hold back or resist as he eagerly jerked ribbons of seed into his mate-to-be, the knot attempting to inflate with a pitiable stretch before giving up as his cock began to turn limp.  
  
Despite the mess, Alfred collapsed on top of him, breathing in harsh pants as he shook lightly with aftershock.  
  
The urges of rut momentarily subsided as his length slid free of the omega and, for the moment, he simply stayed like that with Alfred, his nose pressed to the omega's hair as he wrapped his arms around the cooler body that smelled sweetly of sunshine, sand, and sex.


	20. Betrayal

After the rut had subsided, everything seemed to settle back into a strange sort of normalcy for Arthur.  
  
His new abilities made communication with both Alfred and Matthew easier and he was growing closer with the former omega by the day. Despite how they had never discussed it, he recalled clearly his declaration of love during the throes of frenzy, and, while his mind might have been clouded, his words had been earnest. Perhaps their circumstances weren't the best, but he had found some good in all of it.  
  
And he was beginning to really feel a sort of happiness in that.  
  
Cautious, Alfred had taken up his digs again, assuring Arthur that he would be safe and cared for while he was gone. Kidnappers had gotten through once, but it was promised to him that it shouldn't happen again. As paranoia would do him more harm than good, Arthur chose to believe Alfred, and so he was left alone once more in the safety of his omega's room.  
  
Yet perhaps he had kept something of a secret.  
  
It hadn't been intentional, but he had never really gotten around to telling Alfred that, along with his new speech capabilities, his reading had also been affected. He wasn't certain if the scanning of his brain had picked up on that, but from Alfred's behaviour towards him he was convinced that the omega didn't know. And, quite honestly, he had tried so many times to figure out these futuristic books that even if his mate-to-be  _did_  walk in on him with a book in hand, he would think no more of it than if a toddler held the same object.  
  
He did  _want_  to tell him, but the chance never seemed to come up. Alfred would go and come back exhausted and, somehow, between the cuddling and the sweet nothings, he couldn't find the time to tell him. It seemed such a trivial detail.  
  
But,  _oh_  the books taught him so much about this world! As confusing as it all was, there were wars and battles and ideals that were completely foreign to him. Maths and lands and technologies that he had never heard of. All of it documented neatly in Alfred's shelves within books that became easier to handle once you recognized that certain scrawlings were commands. It was very user friendly, even if he had struggled with it at first. He still wasn't sure what  _everything_  did, but he felt like impressing Alfred with his ability to figure it out. He might have been from the past, but god help him if he didn't try his best to adapt to the now.  
  
And so, as Alfred left that day, he wondered which book he should look at. There was one he was fairly certain was a fictional account if the fantasy details were any indication, although he couldn't be sure. There was another that gave a historical recollection of this very palace. There were quite a few that focused on the study of the mind and another grouping that seemed to detail some of the major historical finds of this century and--  
  
And...  
  
Arthur blinked and looked at the desk with mild surprise.  
  
Alfred's tablet sat there, innocently left behind as the archaeologist had fled in a hurry. From what the alpha had gathered, the omega never left that behind. It was crucial to his ability to record data and research information and Arthur liked to think it was essentially a modern day computer in its widespread usage.  
  
And there it sat.  
  
Suddenly Arthur realized that a knot of curiosity was forming in his chest. Oh, sure, he had seen and handled the tablet before, but that was always under the pretense that he couldn't read a damned thing it said. Still, he could hardly imagine the harm in it. It was a computer, right? Perhaps this was his chance to learn how to  _look up_  information rather than just satisfying himself with what he had on hand.  
  
It could open him up to  _so much more_.  
  
Conflict gone, he sat down at the desk and picked up the thin device, pressing a button that, while unfamiliar, he knew read 'on' in small font. The screen came to life and he felt his heart race with anticipation. Oh-- if only he could learn everything this world had to offer he would never be bored in this room. There was so much that this time had to tell him and so much  _more_  that he wanted to know. What had become of his old country? What had become of humanity? What had his friends and family experienced? What had happened to the world in times after he should have reasonably been dead?  
  
He wanted to know  _so much_.  
  
And yet he paused at the words that  _were_  on the screen, a document that Alfred had left open from prior browsing, and he froze.  
  
 _'Subject A1 recovery stage complete. Hormone trigger 7765 results inconclusive. Frenzy levels reached 10, subsequent practice demands lower dosage. Halved recommended. Results may vary.  
  
Investigation into subject A1's tampering inconclusive. Data suggests infiltration via opposing operatives. Damage irreversible but benign. Intent unknown.  
  
Current A1 testing means to prove the Dliken Hypothesis. Stage 1 complete. Stage 2 requires further investigation.  
  
Program Summary:  
  
A1 monitorization has been increased to prevent further breach of protocol. Subject has fully recovered from the procedure, but side effects include increased libido, increased physical affection, and increased production of A1 specific hormones B and F. Results suggest a subsequent test in six to ten months, half dosage with increased security. Subject is ready for fertilization project, however study suggests that subsequent testing would be more beneficial.'_  
  
Arthur stared at the screen, a figurative stone having lodged itself quite comfortably into his stomach. This was... this was talking about  _him_  wasn't it? All of it? And it wanted more experimentation on him...?  
  
More?  
  
As in, the prior one had been on purpose...?  
  
But Alfred and Matthew had been so angry or... had they been? True, they had only  _really_  seemed upset and surprised by his ability to speak and understand their language. Was that the tampering this went on about? Could he be wrong? Maybe this was just upsetting him because it was all so clinical? Perhaps he was completely mistaken?  
  
Unable to stop himself, the alpha read on.  
  
 _'Subject A1 demonstrates attachment levels 87% to Breeder O1. Further study is needed for transference of attachment to Breeder O2 and O3.'_  
  
Arthur suddenly felt sick. How could he be misreading this? He wanted to mate  _Alfred_ \-- he had told him he  _loved_  him! Was this really suggesting that they move him onto other omegas? So that he might keep impregnating them...?  
  
His head hurt. His heart hurt. It felt like the world was spinning as it turned on its head. He wanted to deny it-- he wanted to misunderstand. Was he really so stupid? Was this something completely unrelated to him that he was just misreading?  
  
 _'Biological compatibility suggests further breeders be selected based on strength of offspring--,'_  
  
No. No he wasn't misunderstanding this.  
  
Arthur turned off the device.  
  
Feeling lost as a strange sense of vertigo gripped him, he stumbled to the shower, stripped, and sat under a scalding stream of water until his tense muscles finally relaxed from defeat and exhaustion.  
  
He was a tool.  
  
He had known this.  
  
He was meant to produce offspring.  
  
  
  
So then why did he feel so betrayed?


	21. Kindness

Hadn't Alfred once told him that he was not a mate, but merely a research subject?  
  
It had been a handful of months ago, when they had first met, but that memory came back to Arthur as he had sat under the hot spray of water, and it stuck with him long after he had dried and dressed. When he returned to the room again the tablet was gone and he stared at the blank space on the table for a long minute before turning his head away to glance at the books. Alfred must have retrieved it...  
  
It was critical for his  _work_  after all.  
  
The knot in his chest tightened at that bitter thought and he ran a hand through his hair as he sunk down onto the bed, crooking his elbows on his knees and leaning his forehead on his hands. He had no idea what to do...  
  
He knew the truth now. That was all there was to it.  
  
Yet what did that truly _mean?_  
  
Were he to act on this knowledge, what would it change? Would they apologize, wide-eyed, and say,  _'Wow, we had no idea you didn't want to be used as a stud. We'll treat you like a human being from now on.' --_?  
  
Of course not.  
  
It wouldn't change a thing aside from their need for secrecy. Perhaps they would be more blunt and honest. The ruse would be up, after all. He had been played by Alfred, thoroughly conned into caring about him and, even now, that didn't change the fact that in his heart he felt a simmering longing for the one whom he had thought of as his mate.  
  
If he revealed that he knew, would  _his_  Alfred evaporate along with the lies they had been living?  
  
The hot, wet streak that ran down his face alarmed him at first, but he rubbed at his eye and it was gone as easily as it had come. He clenched his teeth and furrowed his brow, swallowing back the torrent of emotions that rose in him like a storm.  
  
After a few minutes he calmed, a sense of resignation falling over him.  
  
The woman in the laboratory had been right, after all. Humanity relied on him. Arthur Kirkland would become a household name. Every alpha on the planet would come from his genetic line. It was quite an honor, he supposed. And as he was from a different time, could they truly be faulted for trying to appeal to his sense of security and comfort?   
  
He had no idea what technology they had access to. He had no idea what they could truly do to him. What if they  _had_  created a way to transfer an alpha's bond from one omega to the next?  
  
He didn't want that.  
  
 _He wanted Alfred_.  
  
But for now he wouldn't say a word. There was nothing to gain. If this were all a game-- _a dream_ \--let him enjoy it before the nightmare came. Let him pretend, just for a while longer, that he was loved. That he  _could_  love. That his heart was not so small, as his brothers had told him, to be devoid of all emotion.  
  
He spent the rest of the day in a daze, barely able to concentrate on the book in front of him, let alone the words on its pages.  
  
A whir of noise signaled the opening of the door and he snapped the electronic tome shut as Alfred walked in. The burning in his chest stung as though it were a real wound.  
  
"Hope you've had a better day than me." Alfred said jokingly, throwing his bag onto the desk as he collapsed backwards onto the bed with a bounce. Arthur flinched as he felt the mattress shift under the new weight. "Still trying to get those books?" The omega said conversationally, and when Arthur turned he saw blue eyes glimmering up at him. "I can teach you, if you want. You don't have to do everything on your own."  
  
Arthur's throat felt tight. "Oh... No, that's um... okay..." He stood and slid the book into the empty slot on the shelf, fearing that maybe Alfred had already found him out.  
  
The omega behind him was quiet suddenly. "Hey, you okay...?" It was an open question, a note of concern in those words. Had this been a day prior, Arthur would have felt comfort from them.  
  
"Yes, I'm fine." He managed, turning back to give Alfred a smile that even he felt wasn't very convincing. It must have looked worse than he thought, because the omega sat up in alarm.  
  
"Arthur, what hap--,"  
  
" _Nothing_." He cut him off quickly. Too quickly. Swallowing around the lump in his throat he added, "Nothing happened."  
  
Alfred frowned at him. He looked like he wanted to protest that answer, but he seemed to think better of it and backed down. Still, his scrutinizing gaze never wavered. "Dinner is soon." He said informatively, but Arthur could have easily guessed at that by Alfred's appearance. "Do you want to eat outside of the room today?"  
  
Arthur snapped his head up to stare at Alfred, the reaction apparently interesting to the omega as he leaned forward on the bed. Arthur tried to compose himself slightly, "Oh, um... that... could be nice." He said awkwardly.  
  
The room felt stifling now. Like a cage. A box not unlike that he had been first placed in upon waking...  
  
"Alright." Alfred said, accepting this answer as he leaned back again. "I'll have the cook prepare some of the things you like..." He added and Arthur had the distinct impression that he was attempting to cheer him up.  
  
He managed a sad smile. "Sounds nice."  
  
Alfred stared at him, a tense look to his face. "Are you sure you're okay?"  
  
"Yes." Arthur said without hesitation.  
  
The omega didn't believe him and the alpha couldn't blame him. Alfred rose from his position on the bed, approaching Arthur as though expecting to be scolded. When the alpha did nothing, Alfred closed the distance between them, wrapping his arms around Arthur in a tight hug. "You can talk to me when you feel up to it." Alfred whispered in his ear, the heat of his breath ghosting across Arthur's skin as the omega gave him an earnest squeeze.  
  
Stepping away from him again, Alfred looked away.  
  
"I'll go talk to the cook about dinner." He said, before exiting the room and leaving Arthur alone.  
  
The alpha just stood there, the mock-composure he had scrapped together crumbling. It felt as though the wind had been knocked out of him. He crumpled to the floor on his knees as he choked on the first of many sobs.  
  
He couldn't do this.


	22. Truth

Arthur had somehow managed to compose himself before the omega returned, although to be fair Alfred had been gone a generous length of time. Despite having splashed his face with cold water, his eyes were red-rimmed and his skin had an exhausted pallor to it, but the omega never said a word on his appearance, apparently content to let Arthur have his silence for now.  
  
"C'mon, I think you'll really like this..." Alfred said with a cheer that was a little  _too_  forced given the circumstances. He led him out to the garden, where they had first danced on the strange electronic tiling that made up the path, and Arthur stared at the exotic flowers as a breeze swirled around them and made the bundles of color dance.  
  
The fountain came into view and they passed it by, Arthur sparing Alfred an inquisitive glance.  
  
"We're heading deeper in." The omega explained, looking pleased that the alpha was finally engaged. In a bold move, Alfred grabbed Arthur's hand and held it, squeezing the appendage gently as he added, "I really do hope you like it."  
  
Arthur didn't know what to say to that. Every word he might have normally spoken died before it reached his tongue, strangled by a pervasive feeling of heartache.  
  
With a little tug, Alfred pulled him past a bush on the outskirts of the garden and the path gave way to a small deck. The digital paneling that made up the walkway stretched into an overlook that seemed to hang over a city that flashed with color and technology.  
  
For a moment the emotions inside of Arthur stilled, replaced by awe as he stared at the view, the sun just on the brink of beginning to set. There was a table positioned near the edge, food spread out like a banquet.  
  
It was stunning.  
  
"See?" Alfred said quietly, giving him a shy smile. "I thought you would like it."  
  
Finally Arthur found words, "It's beautiful..."  
  
"Yeah..." The omega said fondly, as though they were talking about something personal, like child or lover. "It is."  
  
Alfred started for the table and Arthur followed after, feeling strangely submissive and out of place as he took the seat the other male didn't. Once they had adjusted, the omega looked at him over the round table, appearing to fiddle with the white cloth that ran its length.  
  
"Arthur I... Did something happen while I was gone?" Alfred said. The alpha looked up at him, the emotions from before rushing back in an instant. He nearly felt breathless by the sudden impact of remembering what he had learned. "I mean, I... Arthur, hey, 'cmon, look at me..."  
  
The alpha blinked, having not realized that he had started to stare down at his lap. Slowly he raised his gaze to Alfred's face.  
  
The omega bit his lip, but said nothing.  
  
They stared at each other over food neither was concerned with eating.  
  
"Are you... Are you having second thoughts about mating me...?" Alfred said slowly, looking pained. "I read that... that when an alpha has a sudden change in mood like this... it means they're no longer interested..." The omega sucked in a breath, his expression flickering from hurt to worry to an earnest pleading. "If that's the case, please don't hide this from me. I need to know."  
  
Silence stretched out between them as Arthur felt his heart jerk and tear.  
  
And then he felt angry. "Why?" He exhaled bitterly, the emotions inside of him churning into a liquid, black mass. It oozed out into his every finger, making him feel hot and tense. "So you can write it down in that little computer of yours? So you can make me love you? Impregnate you? And then you'll just break me and toss me off like some kind of twisted  _sperm donor_." By the end of the sentence he was on his feet, leaning forward on the table.  
  
The omega looked stunned, his face as white as a sheet. "W- who told you--,"  
  
"No one!" The alpha yelled, shoving his plate and glass off the table in a sudden rage. The delicate dinnerware broke against the tile, wine and food marred with shards of glass. "No one fucking  _told_  me. All of you were keeping it some grand secret! Was it fun? Was it fun to make me care about you?  _Love you_? Did you enjoy it? Was it a joke?"  
  
"Arthur--,"  
  
"No.  _Fuck you_." Arthur spat, backing away from the table. "You're a scientist too-- just like them! You were  _studying_  me-- I can bloody  _read_  your language now, but you didn't know that did you? You didn't know that I could see your plans for me. Did I destroy your experiment now?" He said condescendingly as Alfred just stared at him, wordless. "Boo- _fucking_ -hoo."  
  
He turned to leave, not sure where he was going but he wanted to get away. He did not expect, however, that in his hesitation a hand would yank his arm back.  
  
The alpha jerked around to meet blue eyes, the color stormy. "Arthur..." The omega said, his voice cracking and, suddenly, he realized that Alfred was crying. " _Please_... hear me out... okay...?"  
  
An omega was telling him what to do. He wanted to go-- he wanted to run away. He didn't want to be  _here_  anymore...  
  
But the omega was crying.  _His_  omega was crying. Arthur was overwhelmed with the urge to comfort him, but...  
  
Alfred had betrayed him. Alfred was an omega. He could easily overpower him and escape. It would be child's play. He could have him pinned within an instant, submissive and taught to know his place.  
  
The hand around his wrist was shaking.  
  
Arthur felt conflicted.  
  
"What... could you possible have to say to me...?" Arthur said slowly, his words raspy and low with a barely restrained despair.  
  
He was giving Alfred one chance.  
  
The omega was looking at him with a pleading expression. "I... I know what you read. And I know how it sounds... but... you have to believe me... it's not what it seems..."  
  
Arthur stared at him, jaw set. "What is it, then?" He was going to enjoy hearing the explanation for this, he just hoped that it wasn't laughably forced. There was no way the experiment could continue in secret now that he knew.  
  
"That document wasn't written by me..." Alfred said slowly, willing Arthur to believe him. "Matt forwarded it to me. It had been obtained from the organization that had kidnapped you... He's panicking now because they're somehow monitoring you and he doesn't know how. He doesn't know why-- or even what they're planning. This gave us some idea and, frankly, it's alarming. It really is."  
  
"Why didn't you tell me?" Arthur challenged, not sure if he believed it.  
  
"I hadn't had a chance to go over it yet. They're getting their data from somewhere but I don't know how. We think that maybe someone has infiltrated the palace as a maid or servant but we haven't a guess as to who it is. I thought it better that you didn't know."  
  
Something didn't seem right here. "If that's true then why did it say that I was 'tampered with'? You said they changed my brain so why would it be written like that?"  
  
"I don't kn--," Alfred sucked in a breath, eyes widening. He looked genuinely startled. "That's it."  
  
"What?" Arthur said, frowning.  
  
"That explains everything-- why I somehow left my comp, even though I could have sworn I packed it-- why it phrased things like that-- they wanted  _you_  to see that."  
  
The omega stared at him, an eyebrow raised. "I really do hope you believe me when I say that sounds like horse shit." Because it really did.  
  
Alfred shook his head. "Yeah. I know, um... I know it sounds like I just made that up and, truly, I wouldn't believe me if I were you, but I can prove it, okay? I really can."  
  
"How?"  
  
The omega gave him a hopeful smile. "Video surveillance."  
  
  
  
Dinner had been promptly abandoned after that. Alfred had led him back to the palace, but this time they didn't head down the familiar route that would lead to the omega's bedroom. No, instead they headed down a different hall, stopping at a door. Alfred touched the pad at the side and it opened, allowing the two of them to step into what looked like an elevator.  
  
"4051." The omega said, and the elevator doors closed. After only a handful of seconds they opened again, this time into a large, sterile looking white room. It was enormous and every table had an array of experimental equipment and fluids lined up neatly. There were at least a dozen tables and every single one seemed to have at least one half-finished looking experiment on it.  
  
Alfred flashed him a sheepish grin.  
  
"Sorry about the mess."  
  
Arthur looked around, the smell of chemicals strong in the air. "What is this?"  
  
"My lab." The omega said. "It's inaccessible to all other personnel and all the data that's transferred here is encrypted with a system Matt made. The data from surveillance should have been safe here even if they altered the official copy in the security room..."  
  
Following as the omega stepped into a side room, Arthur looked up as the wall came to life as a monitor. It was gaudy, if nothing else.  
  
Alfred was tapping at the controls and then, suddenly, the screen started to display the image of the omega's bedroom. "We installed this after you were kidnapped, so it's new. We can only hope they were unaware of it."  
  
Silent, Arthur stared at the screen. His chest felt dull and numb, as though he were, for the moment, trying not to feel anything.  
  
The time flashed by as the recording was sped up, stopping only once Alfred started packing to leave. The omega paused it, "There--!" He yelped, pointing at the screen. The image of him had the tablet half way into his bag. "I told you!"  
  
Arthur looked from Alfred's face to the image on the screen. "Continue playing it." He said, reserving judgement.  
  
This time Alfred let it play in real time. The omega was shown packing the item into his bag and placing said bag on the desk. Arthur was still asleep in bed, curled up. Alfred moved to the side of the bed, seeming to brush some hair out of the alpha's face before pressing a kiss to his cheek.  
  
A beat of silence passed between them.  
  
"I- I, uh, sorry--," Alfred flustered, turning scarlet.  
  
Arthur looked at him askance. "... Do you do that  _every_  morning...?" He asked, suddenly curious.  
  
Alfred blushed harder, but his eyes flickered back to the screen and then widened, "Look!"  
  
And Arthur did, jerking his head up to see just as something nearly invisible moved across the screen. It warped the world around it, giving it an eerie appearance. The figure moved to Alfred's bag and slipped the tablet out of it, placing it  _under_  the bag itself. Then it moved away, off screen.  
  
Moments later Alfred rushed out of the washroom, looking slightly frantic as he slung his bag over his shoulder and ran out the door in a hurry, waking Arthur in the process.  
  
The tablet sat innocuously on the desk.  
  
Arthur watched as the version of himself on the screen got out of bed and walked into the washroom, shutting the door.  
  
The distorted figure from before came back onto screen again. It walked up to the desk and, suddenly, the figure was visible-- a woman with long brown hair tied up in some kind of strange, electronic suit. She pulled a cord from her body, hovering some device over the tablet as she glance furtively at the washroom door. After fifteen seconds the cord snapped back to her body as she disappeared into the strange, nearly invisible shape again, before going to the bedroom door. It opened and as it closed Arthur saw himself exit the washroom, peering out curiously before shaking his head and going back inside.  
  
Alfred paused the footage.  
  
Arthur stared at the screen.  
  
"Do you believe me now?" The omega asked, looking tense. There was a strange set to his face, like he too was trying to comprehend the alarming video they had just seen.  
  
"I don't know." Arthur said honestly and he gave Alfred a defensive look as the omega frowned at him. "It's still possible that you're toying with me, but..."  
  
He hesitated.  
  
"... but I recognize that woman."  
  
Alfred's eyes widened. "What?" He breathed.  
  
"She... she was at the lab. She was the one who injected me with whatever caused my rut." Arthur bit his lip. "She had some choice words about you and-- and I have a hard time believing that you would be working with her. She seems to genuinely hate you."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"She said you were all feeding me lies. That you were keeping me from the world when I could be-- could be  _helping_  people. Donating to labs for the greater good..."  
  
A guilty look crossed Alfred's face before making a home to stay. "O- oh."  
  
"That's true, isn't it? That's what you're doing."  
  
Alfred squirmed. "Yes... Yes, that is what we're doing."  
  
"It's selfish."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Why?"  
  
Alfred looked up at him, a hunted look in his eyes. "I..." He swallowed and glanced away. "I love you."  
  
Arthur stared at him, eyes widening at the seeming non-sequitur. It was the first time he had ever heard Alfred say that. "Wha--,"  
  
"I love you." Alfred repeated earnestly as he looked back at him, cutting him off as though he had something that he desperately needed to convey-- something he wanted to make Arthur understand. There was a feverish quality to his words.  
  
And then,  
  
"I've loved you ever since I was a child."


	23. Past

"Alfred,  _how on earth_  is that possible...?" Arthur said slowly, every word settling in the air with the weight of a thousand questions. "I didn't wake up until only a few months ago... I've never  _met_  you before..."  
  
"I know." The omega said, unable to meet Arthur's gaze. "I know that. I know how it sounds. I'm not like you-- I'm not from the past... So there's no way we could have ever met. I know."  
  
"Then  _why_ \--,"  
  
Alfred suddenly looked up at him, the tension in the omega's face warring with insecurity and fear. It almost struck Arthur as odd until he realized just how serious this conversation was.  
  
Their entire relationship could be riding on this.  
  
"Can I..." Alfred began, those crystal blue eyes watching him intently, "tell you a story?"  
  
  
  
Being a prince was not an enjoyable thing and Alfred had learned this at a very young age.  
  
Everything he needed to know was taught to him within the arching walls of the palace. Every activity he desired to participate in was done from within the gates. He wanted to get better at air surfing? An instructor would be provided by the weekend. He wanted to know how to construct an inter-dimensional communication device? The man who invented the device would come and talk to him personally.  
  
Which was great and all, but Alfred was eight years old and all he really wanted was  _friends_.  
  
Matthew was a crybaby at the best of times and a jerk at the worst, but he was the closest thing Alfred had.  
  
So when they had fought, it was not only an enraging experience, but a distressing one.  
  
Therefore, the only logical thing to do was run away from home... to teach Matthew a lesson, of course.  
  
Or so he told himself as he stumbled through the wastes. It was a desolate area, devoid of any human or animal. The decrepit buildings were ages old, abandoned when the first wave of infection gripped humanity. No one had gone back to rebuild-- there was no need. Land was plentiful for the dying population...  
  
Alfred knew that he was lost.  
  
"Stupid Matt..." He murmured, but the anger had long given way to anxiety. He had left in a fit, forgetting to take anything with him, but for some reason he hadn't been concerned. Alfred had thought it impossible for him to lose his way. After staring down at the city for years, he had thought, somehow, that he knew everything about it...  
  
It was getting dark. The weatherman must have decided to set the sun early and Alfred shivered as a chill fell over him, heightened by shadows cast by crumbling buildings.  
  
A noise caught his ear and he froze, alarmed. It sounded like a hover bike and he ducked into the nearest doorway, paranoia gripping him as his mind whirred with images of bandits. The bike sped past, kicking up debris, and was gone.  
  
Alfred sighed with relief.  
  
Then he remembered where he was and panic crept back in again.  
  
 _Brreet. Brreet. Brreet._  
  
The noise was faint and Alfred blinked as he turned to instead look inside the building he had taken shelter in. It was dark, black shadows cast over everything, giving the impression that light hadn't graced these rooms for years.  
  
 _Brreet. Brreet. Brreet._  
  
Was it an... alarm? Alfred glanced back outside again. He could go now. The coast was clear. He bit his lip and gave the building's dark corridor a furtive glance.  
  
 _Brreet. Brreet. Brreet._  
  
There shouldn't have been any power here. There was no way anything could be making that noise. Even emergency power generators would have long since died...  
  
Alfred stood there, conflicted.  
  
 _Brreet. Brreet. Brreet._  
  
Turning on his heel, he headed into the building.  
  
Matthew had always said that his curiosity would be his undoing.  
  
There was no light in here, but he tapped the top of his wrist and the small band lit up the area around him, illuminating his surroundings. The floor beneath him sunk under his weight, which made his stomach lurch as he thought about how unstable this place was. He could die here if he wasn't careful.  
  
 _Brreet. Brreet. Brreet._  
  
The noise was louder now, but it still sounded far away. If he could just pinpoint where it was coming fr--  
  
The floor beneath his foot gave out.  
  
Alfred screamed as the old wood splintered and collapsed and he landed in a heap on something hard as pain shot up his leg. For a few minutes he whimpered there, clutching his ankle and trying to will the aches in his body away.  
  
Eventually he opened his eyes, the glow from his wrist band casting the dark room in an eerie light. He could only just barely see the hole above him where he had fallen through, rough planks jutting out into black space.  
  
Stumbling to his feet, he limped out from underneath the hole, not wanting to be beneath it if more collapsed.  
  
 _BRREET. BRREET. BRREET._  
  
Alfred jumped, making a sharp twinge run up his calf, but for a moment the pain in his body was forgotten as he looked around the room.  
  
There was a door and beyond that door there was light.  
  
His eyes widened and he hobbled towards it, trying the old-fashioned knob and finding it unlocked. Glancing inside, he searched for the source of the glow.  
  
The room looked like a disaster had befallen it, rain damage and grime splotched over once-white tiling. Alfred would bet anything that the floor above it had leaked through years ago. But his attention was turned to whatever it was making that noise and he continued forward, the object easy to spot.  
  
 _BRREET. BRREET. BRREET._  
  
Alfred approached the glow curiously. It was a... a sheet of thick glass on the top of some tube that was laying on its side. There was a blinking panel on the front of the glowing case...  
  
And then he saw it.  
  
A face.  
  
It surprised Alfred for a moment as he stared at it, suddenly feeling like he was in one of his virtual reality horror games. The face would open its eyes and look at him and then the features would morph into something terrifying-- he just  _knew_  it. But...  
  
Nothing happened.  
  
 _BRREET. BRREET. BRREET._  
  
Alfred frowned, gnawing at his lip in thought as he cocked his head at the panel. He was considered to be quite bright for an eight year old and he had been tutored in technological history since the time he was six. The interface wasn't anything he had ever seen before, but the panel had a question on it.  
  
CONTINUE?  
  
Y/N  
  
"Continue what...?" Alfred muttered, brow furrowing. He looked at the face of the man. Was he dead? He didn't  _look_  dead. But if he wasn't dead then...  
  
Oh.  
  
 _Oh_ , he was being  _preserved_.  
  
Was the continue asking if he wanted to keep preserving him? It seemed like a waste not to at this point. He was likely some poor fool who had entered a cryogenic preservation program when the first plague had hit. He was probably already a dead man walking...  
  
Alfred pressed Y and the device hummed into pleasant silence, the face behind the glass undisturbed.  
  
Sharp, shooting pains were running up his leg, so he sat down on a musty old chair, staring at the man behind the glass.  
  
His chest was bare but the type mark was obscured. He was probably an omega. A beta wouldn't be able to afford preservation.  
  
"Who are you?" Alfred found himself asking, distracting himself from the reality that he was trapped here. Even if there was a way out, it was risky at best and that was without a hurt leg. "Are you royalty too?" He asked the sleeping man.  
  
The face remained a perfect, porcelain mask.  
  
Funny. He looked much more like a prince than Alfred did. Or maybe he was more like a princess from an old fairy tale. Wasn't there a woman who did nothing but sleep?  
  
He was fairly certain that story ended up with her getting devoured by a monster...  
  
"You're not much of a talker, huh?" Alfred said, laughing at his own joke. "Y'know, Matt says I talk too much but I get the feeling you don't mind. It must be lonely being here by yourself all the time..." Alfred stared at the tube. "I'm lonely too, so I know how you feel. But I guess I have my brother... and my dad... I don't think they count though." He laughed again, swinging his non-injured leg idly.  
  
"Did you have brothers? I bed you did. It'd be funny if your eyebrows ran in the family. You know you can get laser hair removal in like five minutes now if you want. They'll take care of that for cheap." He teased the sleeping figure.  
  
Even though the man didn't talk, there was something comforting about his presence. He didn't look like a bad person. His shoulders were broad and his face sharp and his chest was fairly muscular and his frame slight, but he didn't look mean. There was a serene expression on his face.  
  
"Are you dreaming?" Alfred wondered aloud. "I wonder how long ago you're from? I bet you're just trying to think about all the neat things you'll see when you wake up, huh?" He stared at the tube. "The city has really built up in the last fifty years. You'd probably really like it if you've never seen it before. There's this awesome view from my garden that shows the  _whole_  thing. I can show it to you when you wake up!" He grinned, knowing it was stupid of him. The man in the tube was probably brain dead, he realized. Even if the power was on  _now_ , if it had flickered or wavered for even an hour the man would be beyond salvation.  
  
But maybe he was wrong. Maybe this mystery man would wake up and they could be friends...  
  
For some reason that idea really stuck with him.  
  
"You wanna be my friend? Don't say anything if yes."  
  
Silence.  
  
Alfred grinned.


	24. Equals

It was four hours later or so that Alfred was found by the rescue crew. In his relief, he hadn't asked how they had located him but, at the same time, he could easily admit to himself that the last four hours hadn't been the  _worst_  of his life.  
  
He'd been stuck in a crumbling, abandoned building with a twisted ankle,  _true_ , but, despite that, he had been entertained. Or, rather, he had  _made entertainment_  for himself by telling the man in the tube about his life. It was childish, he knew, but it didn't change the fact that sitting there and talking to him had helped him tremendously.  
  
It had also made him realize just how terribly lonely he was.  
  
There had been a very painful throb in his chest as he left the man there, the glowing tube no protection should the building fall, and he begged his father to extract him from the wreckage.  
  
It only took two days before his father gave in and Alfred was bouncing in his seat as he rode with the team that would remove him without cutting the support. They had contacted a local laboratory that specialized in cryogenic preservation and a special room had been reserved for Alfred's specimen. Now all they had to do was transport him there.  
  
Luckily they got him out without much trouble as Alfred stood back and watched, barred from helping by his age.  
  
After the man was safely placed in the new building, a very secure network established to keep him in tip top health, Alfred's father had agreed to allow him to visit the man as he pleased, taking the entire thing to mean that the boy had taken an interest in science.  
  
That wasn't entirely untrue.  
  
Alfred would frequently go to the laboratory, taking with him books or assignments and chatting with him while he worked. A couple of the scientists caught him and found it to be odd, but no questions were asked. This was the prince, after all, and they were paid good money to stay out of his way.  
  
It was around two years later, when Alfred was ten, that a woman walked into the room, a purposeful set to her movements. The prince looked up at her, blinking owlishly from over his book on modern rail systems.  
  
"Hello, Alfred." The omega woman said, smiling softly down at him like a schoolteacher. He took a liking to her instantly.  
  
"Hello." He said, curiosity evident in his eyes.  
  
"I know we haven't met before formally, but my name is Sofia." She said softly, her face framed by soft-looking, short hair. "I have a small surprise for you."  
  
Alfred's mouth parted in an 'o' and he stood, holding out his hand. "My name is Alfred!" She shook it, laughing lightly. "You have a surprise?"  
  
The woman nodded, looking excited. "I see you here so often with your friend." She glanced up at the man in the tube momentarily. "I thought you might like to know his name."  
  
A sudden rush of excitement filled him. "Y- you know what it is?"  
  
"I unencrypted the data files attached to his pod." Sofia said, pulling a chip out of her pocket. "It has a lot of information inside. I think you'll be surprised."  
  
Alfred lunged forward and hugged the woman, "Thank you so much! This is the best thing anyone has ever given me!"  
  
"O- oh!" Sofia startled for a moment before slowly hugging the boy back, amused as his face pressed to her bosom. Her eyes started to water. "I- I'm glad."  
  
Stepping back, Alfred wasted no time in pulling his tablet out of his bag as Sofia gave him a smile and said, "I need to get back to work. Let me know if you have any questions."  
  
"I will! And thank you so much!" He said, watching her leave for only a moment as his gaze turned back down to the device in his hands. He bit his lip as he waiting for the data to transfer, nearly vibrating with anticipation.  
  
A small  _blip_  noise alerted him to the fact that it was done and he immediately opened the document. Considering that it had actually taken a few seconds to transfer, it was probably enormous.  
  
And so he read.  
  
Subject: 0019876X  
Name: Arthur Kirkland  
Date Admitted: 2025 April 23  
Age: 23  
Sex: M  
Type: 011œ00ç000¥00000u1AAA¶  
  
Alfred frowned at the corrupted text, but he hardly cared too much about that. Type? Just a trivial detail. Omega or beta-- it didn't matter. He now  _knew_  his name!  
  
Arthur.  
  
 _Arthur_.  
  
And he was from 2025? That was incredible! What an archaic time! As far as he was aware they only began testing around then so Arthur could have easily been one of the longest frozen men to have ever lived!  
  
Well... as long as he came out of it okay...  
  
Alfred pushed back that thought and carried on.  
  
Admittance: Arthur Kirkland 00u agreed [here] to testing under the equal 000¥1 clause [here] and [here]. Arthur ç1 to be awoken when a cure is discovered for ailments listed [here].  
  
The prince clicked last link, scanning the page. His heart beat like a rabbit's foot in his chest. They had cures for those-- and some of them had even been eliminated entirely.  
  
He looked up at the tube, eyes wide.  
  
They had the legal documentation to wake up Arthur!  
  
Alfred immediately went to his father with the news, showed him the documents and the agreement, and his father, after some persuasion decided to help fund the lonely child's dream.  
  
"But." His father had said, a knowing glimmer in his eyes. "Shouldn't we wait?"  
  
"Why?" Alfred had asked. They had all the information right here. If he was salvageable, they could do it.  
  
"Well..." The man drawled, his fingers moving to stroke the bangs out of the young boy's eyes. "He is much older than you. Would you not want for him to think of you as an equal, rather than a child...?"  
  
Alfred had stared at him hard, thinking about that. "Y- yeah..." He said, finally agreeing. "Yeah, I want to be his equal."  
  
His father had smiled.  
  
And then he had said,  
  
"When you turn twenty, we will wake up your Arthur Kirkland."  
  
  
  
"That's... That's the gist of it..." Alfred said, leaning against a wall as he stared off at anything that wasn't Arthur.  
  
The alpha had been silent for the majority of the story, but a question had nagged him endlessly. "I don't understand. You... You seemed so  _very_ upset to have to tolerate me..."  
  
Alfred tipped his head back so that it was resting against the wall, eyes trained on the ceiling. "It was... only a week before you woke up that we found out that you were an alpha. We were running a systems check and needed to open the release... There had been a patch over your mark for some reason and... we removed it..."  
  
"Is my being an alpha that distressing?"  
  
Alfred's head lolled down, chin resting on his chest now. "It had been at the time. You weren't who I had thought you were. All talk of alphas say that they're... they're brutish and dominating and... I guess..." He bit his lip, struggling for a moment, "I guess I just thought,  _'I waited ten years to be your equal, but it's not possible now.'_..."  
  
"Oh, _Alfred_..."  
  
The omega shook his head. "No... No, it was dumb, I--... I made up an  _imaginary_  you in my head and... and when you woke up I was just so  _excited_  but... but angry. Like it was  _you_  that had betrayed me and not just my own mind..."  
  
Arthur stared at him quietly, a pang in his chest for the boy who had doted on him all this time. "Is... that why you're so keen on keeping me to yourself?"  
  
Alfred flinched, looking away.  
  
"... Alfred?"  
  
" --es..." He muttered and then Alfred looked back, a wetness of tears in his eyes. "I can't-- I can't just... I  _won't_  let them have you like that..."  
  
The alpha stepped forward, pressing close to the omega as he gently pinned him to the wall. Alfred responded by eagerly nuzzling the side of his neck as his arms snaked around to grip him in a firm hold. He could feel wetness cooling on his skin from the other man's tears. "Alfred... you can't monopolize me if I can help people..."  
  
The arms tightened, possessive, saying more than words ever could.  
  
Arthur nuzzled the side of his head gently, the omega's scent filling his head with fluff. "Alfred, I don't need to  _be_  with others... I can spare a little genetic material without all that..." He said, trying to talk some sense into him.  
  
" _No_." Alfred said.  
  
Arthur had been about to protest when the omega continued.  
  
"No-- I've decided it. I want to be the one to have your first child. No one's having one before I do."


	25. Concession

Arthur was silent for a moment before, "Alfred..." He breathed the word against the omega's hair.  
  
"I know what you're gonna say, okay..." Alfred said, laughing softly. "Why... why change my mind now? I guess it's just--  _you're right_. My father knows how much you mean to me. I know I said he was forcing all of this in the beginning and, to some extent, that was true. I... I think he wanted to force us together, y'know? When I was young, and you were frozen, he'd like to tease and call you my boyfriend." He bit his lip. "It would explain a lot. Things changed after we found out you were an alpha and, for a while, I thought he really was using me for heirs. It hurt to think that but I couldn't argue with him. Tube growth makes fetuses weaker and... and we want to make  _stronger_  people. We can't take any chances..."  
  
The alpha was silent, wanting to hear everything Alfred had to tell him.  
  
He wasn't disappointed as the omega opened his mouth again. "I changed my mind because I-- I  _trust_  you. I thought that... if you had other children, you wouldn't need me... Isn't an alpha's prerogative to breed? In this time period, using our bodies like that is so archaic that it's hard for me to imagine that you would  _want_  that. I spent so long dreaming for you to become real... I just didn't want you to even look at anyone else... But I can't do that to you. I want you as my mate. I want to have your children." Alfred's voice dropped, low and soft. "We're equals. I should have treated you as such."  
  
A soft laugh escaped Arthur's mouth as he stepped back to look into those swimming blues, wiping away a errant tear. "I would love to have children with you, Alfred." He smiled. "You're a beautiful, amazing omega. Your scent is truly divine. Were you to go into heat, I daresay I would be at a loss as far as control is concerned." He leaned his forehead against Alfred's peering up at him from the slight tilt. "I want to knot you, I want to breed you, I want to see you get plump with my child, and then I want to do it all over again." He nuzzled his cheek. "I want to see you overrun with tiny babes. I want to help you raise them. I haven't the time to spare anyone a glance. Perhaps we could have gone about this better, but I need you as my mate. I won't have another."  
  
And he did want that, god help him. The alpha in him was practically thrumming in anticipation of the day his soon-to-be mate would be his.  
  
Alfred was crying again, but there was a startling look of joy on his face as he gave a choked. "I- I want that too..."  
  
Arthur exhaled softly, "Do you truly? What about your work...?" He had to know. He had to be certain now that the omega in front of him had the same desire that he did.  
  
"That was..." Alfred shook his head. "I enjoyed it, but it all started because of  _you_. The English, the researching,  _everything_..." A pause before, "I still want to know what happened to the alphas... but my mother died to this--  _this weakness_  and... and I can give up my research  _for her_." Alfred's arms tightened around him. " _For you_. What happened in the past doesn't matter; I need to look to the future. I want to help the people that exist  _now_. Just let me have the honor of being the first. That's all I ask."  
  
"Darling, you've been terribly selfish." Arthur told him, tilting his head in order to nip that smooth, soft neck. "I am certain your opposition will be elated at your concession..."  
  
A foreign voice spoke, making the two freeze:  
  
"You would think that, wouldn't you?"  
  
Arthur froze, his entire body tense. He couldn't smell the presence of another but that didn't mean someone wasn't there. From the way Alfred was stiff against him, he knew the omega must have been thinking the same thing.  
  
Whirling around, Arthur squeezed Alfred in close behind him, instincts surging in alarm as he tried to spot the intruder. "Who's there?"  
  
"You're not very bright, are you?" A strange hum and whir noise caught his attention and in moments a woman appeared from nothing as she stood but a few meters away.  
  
The beta woman from the laboratory.  
  
The same one they had just seen in the surveillance video.  
  
"You--," A gun looking device was leveled at his face so fast it made his head spin. It was sleek with parts that glowed forebodingly. It was certainly no toy.  
  
"That's a good boy..." She purred, letting the device linger there as she raised a hand to her ear and spoke, "Go." It was a simple, one word command, but that didn't make it any less threatening.  
  
"Why are you here? What's this for?"  
  
She smiled at him, olive green eyes twinkling. "What are you expecting? A monologue. Don't be silly. I need not tell you a thing. All you need to know is that you are not going to move," she waggled the gun, "or I'll blow your arm clean off."  
  
Alfred was silent behind him, so Arthur could only helplessly assume that she wasn't bluffing.  
  
It seemed the woman was growing bored but her gaze never wandered from him. There was no trigger on the gun-looking technology but, however it was activated, he was sure she could shoot it at will.  
  
"Look, Alfred said he'll share me. You  _heard_  it."  
  
The woman scoffed lightly. "You're misunderstanding the situation here, Kirkland. We never wanted your filthy samples."  
  
"Then why the kidnapping? The rut? Why change my brain? Why try to turn me against Alfred?" He didn't understand any of it.  
  
She shook her head. "We want  _you_. Oh-- you're  _invaluable_ , darling. The rut was fun, wasn't it? How did it feel to lose your head like that? I'm certain you would have pinned and fucked anything that could move at that point." Her lips curled in disgust. "Alphas and omegas are disgusting. All filled with this biological nonsense. At least  _alphas_  were useful. Omegas are just  _killing_  us..."  
  
"I don't under--,"  
  
"No! You fucking don't, do you!?" She pressed the gun to his cheek, letting the strange metal dig into his flesh. "Us betas? We're fucking sterile. No one gives a single shit about us. Didn't you wonder why there are so many damn omegas? No, you didn't did you." She pressed the gun in. "I bet you never even thought for one second about what happened to the betas, huh?"  
  
Arthur swallowed. She was right. He  _hadn't_.  
  
"We set you in rut because it was  _funny_  and it proved, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that you're an animal to be caged. We didn't have any intention of losing you so soon." Her eyes narrowed. "They put a tracking device in you. Now we know. We won't make the same mistake twice."  
  
She pulled her gun away, looking as though she were trying to compose herself.  
  
Yet the look she flashed him was one of hatred. "We've been toying with you up until this point. We wanted to see your real alpha side. The side you hide. Your anger-- your  _dominance_. Now you're ours. Game over."  
  
Arthur was dubious. "We're still in the palace..."  
  
The woman gave him a cheerful smile. " _Oh my_ \-- You went out together, you know." She gently rested a hand on her hip, the material of her form fitting suit making a ripple go across his body like water. "Alfred showing Arthur the city at night. So romantic-- oh!" She cocked her head. "Except that there was a bomb in the car! How funny, that. Poor dears-- you must be dead now! Goodbye last alpha! Too bad, so sad..." She smirked. "I wonder how long it'll take for them to learn otherwise...?"  
  
Alfred jerked forward, stepping out from Arthur's protection as she changed the aim of the gun to him. The omega looked livid but the sight of that weapon made him freeze and he backed down again.  
  
"Oh, be a dear and get behind your master, puppy..." She hummed, eyes cold.  
  
Alfred didn't listen, instead glaring at her. "How dare you." He seethed. It was the only thing he had said since her appearance.  
  
"How dare  _me?"_ She repeated, eyes like venom. "How dare you-- all of you omega.  _How dare you_  selectively breed out betas.  _How dare you_ encourage our sterility."  
  
The omega was silent as he stood next to Arthur, a hard set to his jaw.  
  
The beta woman's eyes narrowed. " _How dare you_  take us for granted."  
  
And then the elevator door opened.


	26. Alone

Alfred's eyes darted between the woman and the two strange men that entered the lab and Arthur watched, paralyzed, as the omega backed up until he was next to him, their shoulders pressed together. They were trapped. He could taste the omega's fear in the air like it were acid in his throat and he grabbed his soon-to-be mate's hand, clutching it.  
  
Both men were betas, one tall and blond with chilling blue eyes and the other shorter and lean with a shock of white hair and red eyes like a demon. They made a strange pair, certainly, and as they approached the white-haired one gave them a smirk.  
  
"You brats've caused us so much trouble..." He bemoaned before giving the woman a pleased look. "Good work, darling."  
  
She looked irritated. "Call me that again and I'll be pointing this gun at you..." She warned.  
  
The white-haired man laughed as the taller blond remained stoic and silent. "Well, whatever." He turned those hellish eyes on the alpha and omega. "I know the lovely lady already briefed you. You two ready to go?"  
  
"I thought you just wanted me?" Arthur said, a swelling of protectiveness in his chest. He felt Alfred squeeze his hand. "Leave Alfred-- he's an omega. He's useless to you, isn't he?"  
  
"Not if you're willin' t' fuck 'im." The thin man said. "I can't see you givin' 'im up all easy once we have you. Noble, but foolish. No, we need you both. Alfie-boy will be our own personal incubator. Gotta have the best, right?"  
  
Arthur seethed silently, which the man took as permission to continue.  
  
"Oh-- don't look so upset! We'll take care of you. One heat every year for the rest of your lives, right? It's not that bad. You just have to fuck once in a while." He leaned back, lips twisting into a bitter look. "For once, a beta is the most important. Isn't that just beautiful? You'll be heroes! And we only need one or two..." His face brightened into a grin. "You can keep any other children you have, of course. We need someone to replace you when you get worn out, after all."  
  
"You sick fuc--,"  
  
"Arthur." Alfred said sharply, and the alpha's gaze was immediately on the omega, the crawling feeling of needing to protect him squeezing at him.  
  
"What?" A breath of a word, nearly inaudible.  
  
Alfred turned to look at the intruders, his eyes set in hard lines. He looked so utterly serious in that moment, a sharpness to his gaze that Arthur had never seen before. He couldn't help but see an undercurrent of power in that face-- one that bespoke of a ruler. "We will go with you... but give us just this moment."  
  
The white-haired man exhaled a relieved sigh. "Good, good. I wanna wrap this shit up. Hurry up, then. Be all romantic and shit so we can get outta here..." And with that he turned and walked back towards the elevator, the taller blond man following him as the woman stayed behind, gun never wavering. "Oh, and--," the white-haired man turned to look at them again, "don't try anything funny. I promise you won't like what happens." With that he walked away.  
  
The omega turned to him, taking his other hand and squeezing the both of them in his own. "Arthur..." He murmured, releasing one hand to run a finger along the soft bow of fabric around the alpha's neck. "I love you."  
  
Arthur wasn't sure why he was saying this now but he, embarrassingly, felt tears prick his eyes. "I- I love you too..." It felt like they were facing death. Were they? They couldn't know, but Alfred's pervasive, bitter scent of fear left him with nothing else to believe. Perhaps it was a fate worse than death. Either way, it was check mate.  
  
At least, for now.  
  
But couldn't they fight it?  
  
"I know it... took me a long time." Alfred swallowed, his own eyes watering, "to see how important you are. Not just to me but--  _to everyone_. I knew but I didn't... I didn't want to see it. We haven't mated but it doesn't matter... You  _are_  my mate."  
  
"And you, mine." Arthur replied, his hand squeezing the one that still held his. "We'll get through this. We  _will_."  
  
"Arthur..." The omega said, his voice a choked noise. Alfred lowered their his hands, releasing Arthur's, and rose his fingers up to the alpha's cheeks, cupping them. " _I'm so sorry_." He breathed.  
  
And then, in a sudden motion he drew his hands back and his palms came down hard on the alpha's temples. For a moment the world spun.  
  
And then it twisted, dissolving and reshaping, and his turbulent emotions were drowned in nausea. Air sucked out from around him then came back with a vengeance.  
  
The world flooded to life again and he opened his eyes just as the sense of falling gripped him. He screamed as he felt his body hurtle downwards, wind whipping at his face, and when he landed it was hard, his body tumbling down a short, rocky hill coated with scrap and some metal.  
  
When his body came to a stop he managed a dry, sucking breath, pain shooting up one of his arms from the landing, and he raised his head, the panic of prey fierce in his blood as he looked around himself.  
  
There was no one, only junk and dilapidated buildings. He swallowed.  
  
"A- Alfred--?" He said slowly, jerking up into a sitting position despite the protest of his body. "Alfred!?"  
  
His voice echoed around the ruin, but he could not see another soul. He could not see his mate.  
  
Wherever he had been sent, Alfred was not with him.  
  
"No--." He was on his feet, running up the short hill he had tumbled down. Reaching the peak, he whipped around, stumbling over himself as he surveyed the area. Nothing. No blond. No blue eyes. Not even the trace of his scent amongst the smell of ash and rust.  
  
Fingers shaking, his hand moved to his neck, pressing a ribbon of the bow to his nose, Alfred's scent potent as it swam in his senses.  
  
Alfred had somehow sent him here.  
  
Alone.  
  
Leaving only the omega in the hands of that organization.  
  
He had had the scent of one who was facing death about him. He had planned this.  
  
Arthur's teeth clenched together as he inhaled through them, body shaking as he struggled to breath. His eyes kept clouding with fog as he blinked it away.  
  
It didn't matter that he was an alpha--  
  
He had no shame as he sunk to his knees and cried.


	27. Contact

It took a while for Arthur to collect himself, much to his own personal distress, but once he had he realized much greater implications for him being separated from Alfred.  
  
Namely, he had no idea where he was or what he should be doing.  
  
The beta woman had said he had a tracking device of sorts on him and, if that was true, he should be found by Matthew and their father in no time, but his main concern was Alfred. It was possible that they could remove the tracking on him if they took him hostage in order to avoid being caught... but to what end? Since they wanted Arthur, it made sense that that was their only bargaining chip.  
  
He wasn't sure what to think, but the raw, mangled feeling in his chest left him breathless and sick. His omega was in danger. What alpha _wouldn't_ be upset?  
  
A survey of his surroundings gave him nothing to go on, so Arthur began to wander in hopes of finding some kind of civilization. This area was desolate and abandoned and it was eerie to see futuristic buildings in such states of disrepair. It was a difficult image to process.  
  
His arm was throbbing in pain and there was blood seeping through the sleeve of his coat, so eventually Arthur stopped to inspect it, gingerly stripping off the cloth until he could see marred flesh. He must have fallen onto something sharp because it was a rather nasty looking cut that ran half the length of his forearm. He ripped some of his undershirt and messily bandaged it.  
  
He was really just grateful he hadn't broken anything.  
  
Eventually he grew weary of the mindless wandering and stopped to lean up against some rubble, sinking to a crouch as he tried to understand all that was happening.  
  
Betas were sterile...  
  
He frowned, brow knitting in concern. In his time betas could reproduce but it wasn't very guaranteed. He had never expected that success rate to ever plummet to zero. Although it didn't explain why their position was so openly malicious towards omegas. Resentment was a factor, certainly, but to really wish the demise of the other type was a bit much. And using sexual slavery in order to achieve that was downright unethical.  
  
He looked up at the sky, the deep velvet blue speckled with tears of white. The sun had only just set when they first went to the lab...  
  
Where was Alfred now?  
  
His heart ached.  
  
He wasn't certain how long he had been sitting there, but a sudden whirring noise began to reverberate throughout the buildings and it was only when the image of one of those futuristic vehicles came into view that he realized what it was.  
  
He jerked to his feet, prepared to run, but then the vehicle's door open and a frantic Matthew emerged and he felt his entire body relax as it was simultaneously consumed by fatigue.  
  
"Arthur!" Matthew called out and he wasn't quite expecting the full body hug that he received, the other omega grasping him like a mother to a lost child.  
  
In moments the action was over, Matthew releasing him as he looked him over, "I'm so glad you're okay. We were so worried..."  
  
We?  
  
"Where's Alfred?" The words fell from his lips as though in greeting but he had no time now for pleasantries. His mate had been in trouble. He needed to know if that had changed.  
  
His stomach twisted into a knot immediately upon seeing Matthew's expression change from relieved to forlorn. The omega was dragging him into the vehicle as he said, "He... he isn't anywhere. We... I don't..."  
  
Once inside their transport, Arthur blinked as he noticed the presence of another person.  
  
It was the elegant man he had met near the beginning of his stay at the palace. The one who had led him to the baths. He was once more decked in an overly regal and complex outfit, but that only served to give him an impressive appearance. In some ways it was rather intimidating.  
  
Matthew looked between the two of them, eventually clearing his throat and saying, "Papa wanted specifically to come and see you found for himself..."  
  
Papa?  
  
As in...  _the king?_  
  
Arthur's face paled as the elegant man chuckled.  
  
"Do not look so surprised, dear." The man said, a flirtatious tone on his lips. "We have met before."  
  
"I-- yes. Apologies for that, ah, sir. Um... It was rather clumsy of me to--,"  
  
The man raised his hand for silence and Arthur felt compelled to listen. "No, it is fine. We have more important things to worry about right now." He paused momentarily, "Oh, and do call me Francis."  
  
How... casual. Arthur faltered at that slightly. "Er, yes... Francis, then."  
  
The kind smiled before that looked turned to one of open concern. "My son is missing. Considering that he used his emergency teleportation device on  _you_ , I must presume you know why."  
  
"He didn't die in that bombing." Arthur said firmly as both omega gave him a look of shock.  
  
"You know about that?" Matthew asked.  
  
"We were ambushed in Alfred's laboratory by the same organization that kidnapped me before."  
  
"I thought so..." The younger omega said, looking upset. "If it was the lab... Alfred's in charge of the security there. I knew it was stupid to let him have his way but he promised he would keep it updated and..." Matthew exhaled and leaned back in his seat, slumping slightly. "This is all my fault..."  
  
Arthur shook his head. "No, it's mine." He told him. "They only wanted me and Alfred-- he--..." He couldn't bring himself to say it.  
  
"I am proud of my son." Francis suddenly said, and Arthur realized the weight of nobility in that moment. Every time the king spoke it was with a heavy weight that demanded all attention. Francis' lips twitched into a small, sad smile. "He learned to think of others."  
  
"Yes..." Arthur said, surprised that he had picked up on that so quickly.  
  
The king leveled him with a distantly pleased look. "Please... tell me about this  _organization_..."  
  
And so he did.  
  
  
  
They returned to the palace at some unknown hour, the drive taking much longer than he had expected. It explained why it had taken them so long to find him if he had been so very far away.  
  
Somehow he had expected frantic searching--a review of their information along with a sleepless night of trying to find Alfred--but instead he was lead dutifully to the room he shared with the missing omega by a somber looking Matthew who informed him that he was under no circumstances to leave this area and that guards would be posted to make sure nothing happened to him. A medic and some food would be sent shortly.  
  
And then he'd been left alone in the confines of those four walls and he realized, for not the first time, how  _utterly and completely useless_  he was in this world.  
  
It was enough to make tears prick at his eyes but he blinked these away, letting his hand squeeze at the wound on his other arm to snap him out of it.  
  
Oh, how he was  _restless_.   
  
The omega's scent was heavy and reassuring in the room, yet it had that slight airiness to it that bespoke of its owner having not been here for hours. Normally he would have thought nothing of it, but he realized with no small amount of distress that that scent would  _fade_.  
  
He paced for a while before collapsing onto the bed and pressing his face into his mate's pillow. It made his head swim but it couldn't soothe him.  
  
The lab had been compromised...  
  
Had that group been trying to lure them down there? Had they known about the security feed? Was that why they had set Alfred up?  
  
It made sense now even if he was dubious of their initial intent. Yet how could something that thoroughly orchestrated been left up to chance? They had to have been trying to play them into a trap.  
  
Sighing and exhausted, he rolled onto his back.  
  
A soft cooing noise interrupted his thoughts and he sat up with a startled jerk, gaze flying to the device on the desk that was lit up.  
  
Alfred's tablet.  
  
Oh yes, it had been left here hadn't it? He hadn't taken it to dinner with them...  
  
Arthur was up instantly, bridging the distance between himself and the small piece of technology. When he peered at it, he realized that this must have been a call.  
  
 _Unknown_  
 _Restricted_  
 _Answer? Y/N_  
  
Arthur wasted no time pressing yes.  
  
The device tried to flicker to life a hologram but it seemed to falter and gave an error image instead, however the audio remained as a strange static that made the hair on the back of Arthur's head stand on end.  
  
"Hello?" He ventured, his entire body tense.  
  
There was silence for a moment but the static rose and twisted in sound and he had trouble understanding what that meant.  
  
Then, when he was just about to ask if anyone was there, a voice broke the fog of noise.  
  
" _Arthur_..."  
  
He felt sick with relief and worry.  
  
It was Alfred's voice.


	28. Heat

"Alfred?" Arthur said, a soft settling of panic gripping him as he clutched the tablet.  
  
He heard the eerie, distorted static and then, "Oh,  _thank god_..."  
  
"Where are you?" He'd wager they didn't have enough time for pleasantries if his mate were still in danger. He wasn't, however, expecting a sound to come from those futuristic speakers that appeared to be a soft moan. "Alfred?"  
  
"I don't know." The omega said distantly, as though his thoughts were very far away. "I don't know-- Arthur, please... I  _need_  you..." There was an urgency in that voice.  
  
"Wha--?"  
  
"H- heat... They induced--  _ahn_..."  
  
It felt like his stomach had churned itself into cement. Arthur stared at the device. His senses were split between rage and a sudden stirring of need, but all of it was blinding and instinctively  _alpha_. "Alfred, how are you speaking to me now?"  
  
There was a wet, slick sound on the other end that made Arthur's entire body tense, but he couldn't let that distract him.  
  
"Alfred?"  
  
A gasp. "It-- It's... a back up transmitter... in my glasses, I--  _ah_..." Static for a moment and then, "They're smashed, but they still work... I don't know for how long..." The next sound was a pained sob that made Arthur's fingers clench down painfully on the device.  
  
"Alfred!"  
  
"I- It's hurts-- I've never felt this before-- I need--  _please_ \--,"  
  
"Alfred, I'm coming for you. I'll find you. Please, just hold on."  
  
"A- Arthur I can't-- I can't-- it burns--  _can't you make it st_ \--,"  
  
The screen blinked as the call was cut off.  
  
A frustrated scream tore from his throat as he barely resisted throwing the device. He was hard and angry and ill will worry but mostly--  
  
His. Mate. Was. In. Heat.  
  
It ripped from him a visceral anguish like a desperate clawing in his chest. Alfred was  _in danger_  and  _alone_  and  _without him_.  
  
In heat.  
  
He walked up to the door and pressed his fingers to the gel pad in a motion he had seen Alfred do countless times. It opened with a soundless hum.  
  
A man in armor Arthur had trouble understanding turned to face him. It looked like he was covered in a fine, seamless sheet of metal. He stunk of omega and Arthur knew his own alpha scent was strong when the supposed guard merely gaped at him. And then, "Sir, you need to remain in--,"  
  
"Bring me to Matthew or your King  _now_  or  _so help me god_ \--!" He snarled and the omega jerked back, tilting his neck, averting his gaze, and arching his back to expose his stomach. It had been a full-body reaction and one Arthur delighted in seeing.  
  
The guard looked surprised at his own action, slowly relaxing from the submissive stance as he eyed the alpha warily. "R- right this way..." He said, voice shaky.  
  
Arthur followed after him, garnering a few perplexed glances from other guards who had no idea what was going on as he was led down the corridor. It took a minute or so, but eventually they arrived at an extravagant door. Suddenly the guard looked nervous again as he gestured to the ornate doorknob and backed away as though wanting nothing to do with this.  
  
Arthur was an alpha. He grabbed the handle, the gel structure pressing down beneath his fingers, and tore the door open.  
  
Within, the hustle and bustle of no less than fifty urgently working omega froze as they all looked up from displays and holograms and tablets in unison, the only ones quick enough to react being Matthew and his father.  
  
Mostly Matthew. "Arthur, you--,"  
  
"If you do not allow me to aid in the search for my mate,  _so bloody help me_ , I will do things that we'll all regret!" He yelled to the room as he strode in.  
  
And then, in an act that would be spoken of for years to come, Arthur grabbed the King's collar and yanked him forward, growling,  
  
"Do I make myself  _clear?"_


	29. Plan

While Francis was most certainly the King, he was also an omega, and while it displayed only in his eyes, there was a brief flash of  _something_  that momentarily wavered in those crystalline orbs.  
  
And then the King sighed and extracted himself from Arthur's grip, giving him an exasperated, "You needed only to ask..." He looked like a parent weary over the acts of a child, but Arthur had seen it-- Arthur had witnessed the tremor of submission that had passed through his gaze.  
  
"Alfred contacted me." Arthur said, wasting no time. He couldn't revel over petty victories when his mate was in danger.  
  
Matthew was suddenly at his side, looking wary but interested. "How?"  
  
"He called me."  
  
The omega frowned. "His glasses are functioning? But I thought--..." Matthew turned and walked over to what Arthur could only fathom was a computer of sorts, although it was mostly lights and flickers of images and gel padded keys. "Shit-- they  _are_  functioning again!"  
  
"Language, Matthew." Francis chided softly, gliding over to stand beside his son.  
  
Arthur watched for a moment, only distantly aware of the way the other omegas in the room gave him wide berth. He joined them, peering with no small amount of intensity at the two. "Can we trace the call?"  
  
"Even better." Matthew quipped. "If the call function is working again that means we can just pin point his location, although..." The omega bit his lip. "This is probably a trap." He said bluntly, looking at Arthur.  
  
The alpha stared at him. "Perhaps." He admitted.  
  
Francis looked at Arthur suddenly, cocking his head. "What did Alfred  _say_  to you...?"  
  
Suddenly he had the focus of both omegas, but none of his resolve faltered. "They've induced heat in him. He begged me to find him and..." Arthur grimaced, "save him."  
  
Matthew released a breath of air that sounded more like a hiss as Francis turned his head away with an emotion Arthur couldn't read.   
  
The younger of the two omega spoke first, "He's never had a heat before-- not even by accident." Matthew sighed. "It's... it's not pleasant to have one when you haven't before. I would know. And I can't imagine what kind of conditions he's being held in..."  
  
"A far cry from an omega's den..." Arthur murmured, ignoring the way Matthew looked at him with confusion. It was easy to tap into the raw, primal anger he felt and he summoned forth that feeling again as he looked up at the two. "I don't care if it's a trap. I need to find him."  
  
"You are a very valuable creature, Arthur." The King said smoothly. "Your life is more important than any other. Would you still risk it for Alfred's sake?"  
  
"Yes." It didn't even bear thinking about. "I know I'm important. I understand." He took a breath. "If I don't do this-- If I don't save  _my own mate_ who's  _suffering_ , alone, and in heat, I dare say my genetics are too faulty and dishonorable to even consider using to save your population. No alpha could live with that shame. You would spawn a race from a coward."  
  
He looked at them, trying to will them to understand.  
  
"You want to save your people by making them stronger? Then let me prove my strength. I'm sure, even if I were to perish, you could salvage enough of what you need from me, but I want to do this properly. And I can't die." Arthur stared at them hard. " _I refuse to_. Not until Alfred's safe again." And then, "The organization doesn't want to kill me-- they want to enslave me. If this is a trap..."  
  
Arthur turned away from them, fists clenched.  
  
"If this is a trap and we run in there with an army... I can only imagine the worst happening. They're smart. They've been playing us this whole time. They probably know that we have a location now and why the hell would they let us have that if we could just swoop in and take him? Just like that?"  
  
"What do you propose we do...?" Matthew asked, hanging onto his every word as though mesmerized.  
  
Arthur looked at him. "We need to play them back." He said. "I have an idea. If it works--" He smirked, " _When_  it works, we'll have Alfred and myself back safe and sound. I promise."  
  
"You don't know much about this time period." Francis said slowly. "Are you sure you can promise something like that?"  
  
The alpha exhaled a soft chuckle. "I've been studying it-- reading. You all left me alone in a room with books for weeks. Alfred talks a lot about  _everything_. You think I don't listen?"  
  
There was a strange silence in the room, as though the other omegas were all eavesdropping, but that was hardly on Arthur's mind as he stared down Francis, the King's face carefully neutral.  
  
And then the man smiled. "You are a good specimen. I approve." He said easily. "I knew our strength would be born of love." A giddy little grin flickered to life. "I shall enjoy lording this over the other Kings." Clapping a hand on his shoulder, Francis called out to the room, "This alpha is now our third in command in this operation. Please treat him as such."  
  
The room buzzed to life as the omegas within it chattered amongst themselves, some eager, some dubious, but all alive with an air of gossip. This was likely the most interesting thing they'd ever seen, Arthur mused.  
  
Suddenly, the King turned to him again. "What is this plan that you have?"  
  
"Well," Arthur began, knowing that Francis and Matthew wouldn't like it, "I want you to send me to the location you retrieved from his glasses."   
  
And then,   
  
"Alone."


	30. Taken

"You came." The voice was distinctly amused and Arthur smelled the subtle scent of beta before he even saw her. "You're a good little alpha. Need to save your omega in distress, right?"  
  
Arthur leveled the brunette woman from before with an unimpressed stare.  
  
She simply laughed softly, shrugging. "I can admire your resolve-- even if you  _are_  an alpha." She was approaching him now, the arid heat of the sun beating down on them.  
  
The signal from the glasses had led to this wreckage and rubbled nowhere. It was so painfully obvious that the betas had wanted them to know that this was a trap.  
  
Some kind of restraining device was put on his wrists and he didn't move to protest this. The beta looked completely unfazed by this, probably assuming that, at this point, he would do anything for his omega.  
  
Well, she wasn't  _wrong_.  
  
Backing away, the beta tugged an invisible leash and he was forced to follow.  
  
"The silent type." She noted. "My favourite."  
  
He said nothing as she led him from the area.  
  
"You know this will be better for humanity..." She said softly, her gaze looking up at the sky. "Betas are level-headed. We're not manipulated by heats or frenzies or...  _hormones_. We love, live, and work hard, just as you do, but without the mess..."  
  
Silence.  
  
"My name is Elizaveta."  
  
He frowned at her back and she exhaled a laugh that made him realize that somehow she knew.  
  
"I'm human, is what I mean. Just like you. I'm not a monster." A pause. "I understand you love your mate and we're bringing you to him. All you had to do was give in. Simple, right?" When Arthur said nothing, she continued with a sigh. "It's really all for the best. You're from a different time-- you couldn't possibly hope to understand."  
  
And then they came to a transport vehicle which looked more like a large, floating box.  
  
She turned to him, looking apologetic. "Sorry, but I have to do this."  
  
He didn't know what  _this_  was, but then there was only darkness.  
  
  
  
When next he awoke he was strapped to a table. Again.  
  
The dark-haired omega he had seen briefly the last time he was captured looked at him, expression carefully neutral. His eyes were a deep brown but Arthur couldn't see any obvious emotion within them.  
  
"You're awake." The omega said.  
  
Arthur rose a brow. "Indeed."  
  
The omega looked down at his tablet, fingers fluttering over air as he used it. "Your... mate has been in estrous for three days now."  
  
Arthur felt his heart stop. "Three... three  _days_ \--?" It had been less than one day when he willingly went to meet the beta, which meant that the other two were completely unaccounted for. How Alfred must be suffering now. He repressed the urge to shudder.  
  
"Yes." The omega confirmed. "You were asleep for some time."  
  
Arthur suspected that he hadn't exactly been  _sleeping_ , but that wasn't important. "Where is he?"  
  
"You wish to be brought to him now?" The omega said, raising a brow. "You have only just woken, Kirkland."  
  
"Bring me to him immediately." Arthur ground out, tensing against the restraints.  
  
"Very well." The omega left the sanitary, white room, disappearing through a door that seemingly appeared from nothingness.  
  
A few minutes later, two betas wearing masks came into the room and he was unhooked from the table, arms forced behind his back as he was restrained again. They led him out of the room and Arthur spared the area around him a glance, bright,  _bright_  white invading his senses, giving away nothing. Every wall, ceiling, and floor were a painfully barren, glossy sheen.  
  
Eventually they came to a room at the end of a long hall, one of the betas pressing a finger to the pad at the side. The wall fell back with a soft whir, opening like a mouth into a box of darkness.  
  
The restraints were removed and a hand at his back pressed for him to enter. So he did, not the least bit surprised when the door behind him shut again, leaving him in a small, enclosed space. He took a breath, preparing himself for whatever was to happy next.  
  
The wall in front of him peeled open silently and he could smell Alfred before he could see him, the heavy scent of an omega in heat hitting him like a wave. He gasped for a moment, but struggled to clear his senses as he staggered forward into the dimly lit room.  
  
The sight before him made his heart crumble into pieces.  
  
"Oh,  _Alfred_..."  
  
The room before him was completely barren, the walls a dull grey and the only light source a small, orb in the ceiling that made the room glow faintly. But that wasn't really what distressed him.  
  
What distressed him was the  _wrongness_  of it all.  
  
Alfred was naked and curled up on a square of mattress in the corner, the only possible material for a nest he had being a thin blanket and what appeared to be some sort of gown that he had stripped off and balled into a pillow. The lighting wasn't low enough for an omega to feel comfortable, although it was a fair bit darker than the brightly illuminated halls of the rest of the lab. Aside from a toilet in the corner and a small container of water that rested neatly on some shelf--presumably one through which food and supplies could be issued--there was nothing else here.  
  
It made Arthur's very blood boil.  
  
"Alfred..." The alpha said gently, approaching him. There was no way the other male didn't know he was here, but as he came closer he found that huddled ball was trembling.  
  
Every instinct within him surged to life at once as he slipped onto the bed, embracing his soon-to-be mate with a rough, desperate grip as he pressed his face into the omega's succulent neck. Alfred smelled of sweet slick and sweat and Arthur nuzzled him, a painful burn in his chest at the lack of reaction.  
  
And then, finally, Alfred seemed to find himself again, the omega stirring from whatever daze he had been caught in, a pitched whine in his throat as he shakily grasped at Arthur's clothing, breathing turning to crying as he lapsed into gentle sobs.  
  
"Oh love,  _I know_ \-- I'm here.  _I'm here_." Arthur said, gripping him tightly as he lie beside him. "You're okay now. It's okay..." He nibbled at Alfred's neck, making the omega squirm.  
  
" _It hurts_." The words were like a gasped breath, his voice so pitiful and broken that it made Arthur's chest ache.  
  
He wanted to kill whomever had done this. He truly wished upon them a terrible demise. "I know, I know. I'll take care of you." He was already hard, his cock rigid in his pants as he shuffled free of his clothing, Alfred trying his best to press up against newly exposed skin all the while.  
  
This wasn't how Arthur had wanted Alfred's first heat to be.  
  
This wasn't how Arthur had wanted to claim him.  
  
But Alfred needed him and the alpha would not deny him that.  
  
First, however. "Alfred, love... I'm going to get that water, okay?" He said, moving to extract himself from the omega even as his senses screamed at him not to. He had to execute the plan. No matter what this frenzy begged of him--Alfred came first.  
  
The omega whined but was too weak to fight him, instead returning to that desperate ball as he cried into his own arms.  
  
Arthur felt fury and distress but pushed away the emotions that warred within him, calling him to fight everyone and soothe Alfred, because right now what he was about to do would  _save_  the omega and he just needed to concentrate on  _that_.  
  
Fetching the water, he pressed close to the omega, drawing the thin blanket over them as he nuzzled at his neck and coaxed him out of the little ball. Alfred protested the cover, but Arthur distracted him with the water.  
  
"Come along, love. You need to stay hydrated." He said softly, tapping away the technologically advanced cap and pressing the curve of the opening to Alfred's lips. Meanwhile a hand moved down to unlatch an invisible container that had been hooked around the bulge of what would soon become his knot, relieved that all this time the betas hadn't thought to search him as thoroughly as they had first believed. This device, he was told, wouldn't display on any readings, but if they had only patted him down more  _firmly_  then that particular lump might had seemed more suspicious...  
  
An alpha's power the ability to knot. Arthur unhooked the case and slipped free a pill, discretely sliding it between the omega's lips. He was fairly certain that an alpha's power had never quite been abused in this manner before.  
  
But why would betas, who loathed alphas, be familiar with their bodies? Let alone want to touch something so symbolic of them?  
  
The enemy was predictable. It gave him hope.  
  
Alfred made a noise at the foreign object that was placed in his mouth, but Arthur forced back the water and the omega swallowed it down, mind too dazed to protest as sweet, sweet hydration was gulped down greedily. Arthur would wager that the poor thing hadn't been able to move, let alone fetch and drink water...  
  
Oh how his hatred of this place grew with every passing moment.  
  
"Better?" Arthur said, letting his hand stroke the omega's ear--  
  
Slipping a chip into the inner curve, hidden and safe.  
  
With that he pressed a button that returned the container to invisibility, managing to place it aside with the empty bottle without making it obvious that there was more than one item in his hand.  
  
If he had played his cards right, whatever surveillance that was on them would be none the wiser, the blanket having hidden most of his actions.  
  
The betas were too confident.  
  
They were brilliant at playing others, but the idea that they could have been outdone must be so foreign. Arthur could only hope that he had read them right...  
  
"Please..." Alfred panted, begging. " _Please_... I need--...  _I need you_..." He was too weak to do anything other than look at him, eyes filled with such great desperation that Arthur suddenly felt overcome.  
  
"I know. I'm sorry--," He nearly choked on his own words. "I'm sorry I made you wait. I'll take care of you." And his hands were gripping him, the scent making his head drown. He had staved off this hunger as long as he could, but luckily it was long enough. "I need you too."  
  
It took no effort at all to find the omega's entrance, the cloth beneath him damp from heat slick. The blanket over them fell away as he shifted into position over his omega, but Arthur didn't care.  
  
Let them see it.  
  
Let them see all of it.  
  
Alfred was his. No one was going to manipulate him any longer. No one was going to toy with his head-- _his thoughts_. He was tired of playing games with this world.  
  
No, it was time to play the world back.  
  
As he plunged into Alfred, cock sheathed up to the hilt and over the slight bulb at the base with a satisfying  _stretch_...  
  
The device nestled in the omega's ear came to life with an inaudible hum.


	31. Claim

Alfred cried out as he was thrust into, the sharp noise more like a scream as his body spasmed slightly from euphoria, a squirming mess under Arthur's fingers. The alpha moaned, low and long, the omega's body hot and tight and pulsing around him, squeezing him, crooning for seed.  
  
The sudden surge of scent that hit him as he spread those lightly tanned legs made him lose his very wit, a grunt exhaled as he began to piston steadily into the omega, Alfred's body jerking with every movement as the blue-eyed, blond scrambled for purchase of some sort, nearly howling.  
  
Arthur couldn't even  _imagine_  how it must have felt to finally have relief after waiting so very,  _very_  long, but he could only believe it was more the absence of  _pain_  that made everything feel as it did for Alfred.  
  
Still, he wanted him to have the very best now, so that's exactly what he'd give him.  
  
Rolling his hips forward, Arthur gasped, sinking forward to dig his fingers to the flesh of the omega's thighs, bucking with tight, feverish movements. It was wholly awkward, but he managed to capture the Alfred's lips in a desperate kiss just as the other man moaned, and then he felt hands coming up to grasp at his neck, keeping him pinned there even as they broke for breath.  
  
"Y- you-- you feel--  _aah_ \- so good... good...  _so good_..." Alfred babbled, tears running down his cheeks. "So wonderful. My alpha. Mine. I love you." He gasped, blue eyes struggling to look at him through the fog of pleasure.  
  
Arthur's chest tightened with a sudden surge of possessive pride. "You're beautiful." He murmured. "So  _bloody_  gorgeous-- and you're  _mine_..."  
  
Alfred gave a moan at that which spiked into a pleasured yelp as Arthur's thick cock brushed the delicate bundle of nerves inside of him. "Y- yours..." Alfred exhaled, sounding grateful.  
  
" _Mine_." Arthur reasserted. "Always. My  _omega_. My beautiful, wonderful mate..."  
  
This time the omega hummed at that, dazed and soaked in drunken ecstasy. "I want to be pregnant..." He whined, heat-talk bubbling up on his lips. "I want your child. I want to be filled with you--,"  
  
"I'll make you pregnant." Arthur told him--gasping. "I promise." And somewhere inside of him he really meant that too. He wanted that and if Alfred wanted that as well, which he obviously did, then Arthur would be there to make it happen.  
  
But for now, well...  
  
He had a mate to claim.  
  
Their movements were frantic and desperate and Arthur knew, with how much stimulus they were both experiencing, that neither would last long. His thoughts were correct as Alfred started to orgasm just from the friction of Arthur's stomach along his swollen, smaller cock and the alpha slipped a hand up to grip the length, taking great pleasure in the way Alfred's head tipped back, submissive and warm and inviting.  
  
Yet that was nothing compared to the rippling clamp of the omega's body along his cock, and he gasped as it dragged him further in, his movements suddenly jerky and ill timed as he came.  
  
Feeling, like being submerged in the tide, crashed down on him and he cried out momentarily before instinct ripped through him and he lurched forward to dig his teeth into the curve of Alfred's neck and shoulder, clamping down as his teeth broke the skin, the omega's cry loud in his ear.  
  
And like that he was just coming and coming and  _coming_ , the strange feeling of swelling flesh making his cock feel tender and tight as it ballooned in Alfred's body, teased to knot by the grasp of the omega's entrance. It felt like it shouldn't have fit, but it did, and at Alfred's keening whines he could tell his mate felt the same way.  
  
 _His mate_.  
  
Truly and utterly. No plans to-be, just the metallic tang of the omega's blood in his mouth as he started to lap clean the wound, his length twitching almost continuously as he filled Alfred with his seed.  
  
It felt like  _so very much_...  
  
"I'm filling you." He purred into the omega's ear as his tongue lazily cleaned the mating mark. "Can you feel it?"  
  
Alfred was limp beneath him, wet and sticky and sweaty, but panting, a pleased, tired flush on his face. "Mhm..." He managed, sounding exhausted. Poor thing probably hadn't slept very much the past few days.  
  
"Tired?"  
  
"Mm..."  
  
Arthur adjusted them until they were on their sides, his knot still firmly embedded in the omega as he brushed Alfred's damp hair out of his eyes. "Go to sleep, darling."  
  
Those tired eyes, unshielded by thin glass, smiled up at him. "We're mates now..." He murmured.  
  
"We are." Arthur said, carding a hand through his blond locks.  
  
"I'm," a yawn, "happy."  
  
"Me too. Now sleep."  
  
"Mmokay..." Alfred slurred.  
  
Within moments the omega was motionless, his breathing evening out almost immediately. Arthur exhaled a sad sigh, "I'm sorry I took so long." He whispered.  
  
They would be safe soon.  
  
Yes, Arthur had done all that he could.  
  
Now the only thing left was to wait.  
  
  
  
Arthur never tired as he lie there with his now-mate, the two curled in a sticky, sated embrace. Even as his knot slipped free of Alfred, a rush of his own semen leaking out and painting the omega's thighs, Arthur did not give in to the urges of his body.  
  
He refused to sleep.  
  
After eight long hours of lying there, pretending and enjoying the company of the warm body beside him, Alfred woke again, rested.  
  
But this time the heady, enticing scent of fertile omega was not emanating from him any longer and he could feel Alfred shuffling in relief if not a little confusion.  
  
"Arthur..." The omega-- _his omega_ \--murmured, arms looping around him more tightly now.  
  
"Hush." Arthur told him, still feigning sleep.  
  
Alfred grew quiet and Arthur could feel him forcing his breathing even.   
  
After a few long minutes he finally said, "I'm going to mount you again. Go along with it."  
  
The omega was quiet, but from his obedience he knew that Alfred understood. He could tell that his mate had at least gathered that something had changed, the gears in his mind whirring, silent but clear as the heat fog had all but left his mind.  
  
Arthur nuzzled him now, the motion not so much an act as it was honest affection, his teeth nibbling at the mating mark on the other man's shoulder. Alfred hissed appreciatively, arching up.  
  
It was effortless to find Alfred's sensitive hole, the entrance still fairly wet and warm, and Arthur riled himself up by taking in the deep scent of slick that remained, wasting no time, inserting himself as he pulled the omega's head to his shoulder.  
  
"I'm no longer in heat?" Alfred whispered against his ear, breathless. Arthur felt a flicker of pride at this intelligent creature being his omega-- Alfred had figured out quickly that this was all an act so that they could talk.  
  
"I gave you a pill." Arthur replied, making a show of grunting as he thrust into Alfred. "It should suppress the effects of heat for the next sixty-four hours." So three days in total.  
  
Alfred moaned, bucking into him, before collecting himself momentarily. "How are we getting out of here--?" He breathed.  
  
"There's a library book identifier tucked in your ear." Arthur told him.  
  
The omega's spine arched as he tried to get more friction from that delicious cock. "Brilliant." He moaned, tossing his head slightly before nuzzling at the side of Arthur's.  
  
"It was my idea."  
  
Alfred exhaled a soft laugh.  
  
An identifier was a small chip used to locate missing books in this time, their value much higher than it had been in Arthur's. Yet they were so specific to each location that you needed a certain kind of reading device for each. Without it, it would be difficult to trace, even at close proximity.  
  
They were  _supposed_  to be unobtrusive.  
  
And right now one was caught in the curve of Alfred's ear, running off of the heat provided by the omega from a slight alteration of its power structure. It wouldn't last very long, as the circuitry wasn't designed for that kind of activation, but for now it was what they had. If all else failed, the royal family could still attempt to track them down via other means. Capturing Arthur had been all the lead they had needed, as far as he was aware.  
  
"You're a genius." Alfred managed to mutter before a moan broke free of his lips.  
  
Arthur bit his ear in return. "You underestimated me." He pulled his tooth long against that sensitive flesh. "They did, too."  
  
"Is that,  _hnnh_... so...?"  
  
"Mhm..."  
  
Alfred gasped, unable to help enjoying the pleasure that coursed through his still sensitive body. "I'm- I--,"  
  
The alpha grabbed his cock, pumping him. Alfred came into his hands with desperate, tiny thrusts.  
  
After a minute or so, Arthur came as well, finishing inside of the omega and then holding himself there despite the sad knot that half-inflated and then wilted again. For those observing them, they would know not the difference as he pulled the thin blanket over them. For all the betas knew, they had well and truly knotted.  
  
"Soon they'll come for us." Arthur said to Alfred, so quiet that it was nearly inaudible.


	32. Escape

Two days had Arthur very thoroughly questioning the likelihood of their escape.  
  
It wasn't  _supposed_  to take this long.  
  
The plan had been fool-proof. Arthur had executed everything perfectly. The chip in Alfred's ear should have given off their location, no matter how deep in their earth or how high in the sky. And yet...  
  
And yet they remained in that dim room, forced to pretend to mate for hours, exhausted and sticky without even the fog of heat to act as reprieve. It was a hellish test of patience, if nothing else.  
  
For the first day they denied eating the food that had been slid into the room via a slot in the wall, Arthur suspicious that there might be something in it. However, once forty-eight hours had passed and they were a mere sixteen away from when Alfred's heat would kick back in, Arthur rethought this plan.  
  
"Pretend to eat the food..." He had told Alfred in the bout of another round of sex, his lips dropped low to the omega's ear, words drowned out by the wet noise of their bodies moving together.  
  
And so that's what they did, Arthur bringing the tray over and making a show of 'feeding' his heat-struck mate. The alpha was certain there was something in this, but, although he didn't know what, he told Alfred that it would be safe to feign sleep.  
  
And so they did.  
  
Arthur's hunch was right as, after an hour, the door slid open as the sterile scent of beta followed after, two figures murmuring to each other as they pulled in a cot of sorts. It was likely that they would take this opportunity to separate Alfred and Arthur, but to what end the alpha didn't know.  
  
What he did know, however, was that the two betas weren't expecting them to launch up at them, Arthur dressed in his clothing and Alfred wearing the thin night gown they had left him in.  
  
One tried to pull something on them but Arthur ducked under his arm, locking his own around the man's throat as he used the weight of his body to slam him back into a wall. The beta crumpled to the floor, unconscious. A glance at Alfred revealed another unconscious beta, the omega cracking his knuckles.  
  
Alfred gave him a satisfied grin. "I've had a lot of training." He said.  
  
Arthur smirked.  
  
To their luck, the door had been left open, and the two made short work of running down that pristine white hall, Arthur's mind racing. He didn't know where they should go or what they should do, but Alfred called out a sudden, "Left!" and he followed after, the omega's bare feet racing down the next hall.  
  
There were no alarms...  
  
Perhaps they were silent--?  
  
"Here!" Alfred said, dragging him quickly into a small side room. It looked to be some kind of supply closet, but Arthur couldn't recognize much of what it held.  
  
"Where are we going?" Arthur asked, panting.  
  
The omega, too, was trying to catch his breath. "They dragged me around a lot the first couple days here. I think they thought I was too out of it to remember the layout, but I have a guess as to where the exit is..."  
  
Arthur grinned at him, "My perfect, wonderful mate."  
  
Alfred flushed a deep red, exhaling a laugh as he rubbed absentmindedly at the bite mark.  
  
They didn't need to say anything. There was nothing  _to_  say.  
  
"But." Alfred said, the smile fading as it was replaced by a frown. There was a stormy look in his eyes. "I need to show you something first."  
  
Arthur blinked. "Show me something--?"  
  
The omega nodded. "I... couldn't explain it before." Blue eyes looked at him, heavy with an earnest seriousness. "You just have to trust me."  
  
"Should we not escape first? We can always come back after--,"  
  
"No!" The omega bit his lip."You have to see it. I need you to see it so I can know that I'm not crazy."  
  
"Okay..." Arthur said slowly, moving to grasp Alfred's hand. "If it's really that important to you. Just lead the way."  
  
"We might get caught." Alfred said.  
  
"Is it worth the risk?"  
  
The omega closed his eyes. "I think so." He said.  
  
A few minutes to gather their breath had Arthur wondering.  
  
No alarms. No one was pursuing them. Nothing.  
  
"It's not a trap." Alfred said, peering out into the hall alongside him. The omega started to lead him along a path, a look of concentration hard set into his features. "They're just... gone." He bit his lip.  
  
"Where did they go?" Arthur couldn't help but ask.  
  
Alfred shook his head. "I don't know."  
  
For a while they simply walked, meeting no one. It was eerie. Every hall was a prim, glimmering white and looked identical to every other hall, but somehow Alfred knew where he was going and Arthur dare not question it.  
  
Eventually they reached a door.  
  
"Here." The omega said, eyes boring into the gel pad at the side of the door's frame. He rose his hand, hesitated, and then tapped it.  
  
The door slid open.  
  
"I knew it." Alfred murmured to himself. "I'll explain later just... just trust me." The omega grinned at him. "We have a guardian angel."  
  
And with that he stepped into the dark room  
  
  
  
  
Arthur wasn't entirely sure what it was that he had been expecting... but this wasn't it.  
  
Cylinder upon cylinder of glowing blue-green tubes, each housing a body that floated in the gelatinous looking water, for all intents and purposes merely asleep to the world around them.  
  
And each one had a swirled letter A on their body in varying locations.  
  
Arthur could only stare. "What--?"  
  
Alfred stepped forward, eyes scanning the bulk of specimens. It would have been impossible to count just how many there were of them. "Alphas."  
  
"How?" Arthur felt himself say, moving to stand near Alfred.  
  
"I don't know." The omega said. "But I have a guess." Alfred looked at him, face drawn. "The symbol means they... they were all birthed naturally which means that they're probably frozen specimens." Blue eyes were clouded. "Just like you."  
  
Arthur chanced the tubes another glance, but Alfred pulled at his arm.  
  
"We have to get out of here. We don't have much time."  
  
"Alright." As much as he wanted to know more, Arthur knew that right now their priority was getting out of here.  
  
"It's real though, right? What we saw?"  
  
"Yeah..." Arthur couldn't contemplate what this all meant just yet, but it had definitely been real.  
  
They exited out into the halls again, this time Alfred leading them along a different path. For some time they continued in hurried silence, neither daring to waste energy speaking. They had to escape first and they'd already delayed that long enough.  
  
Eventually they came to an area that looked slightly different, the intimidating sheen of laboratory giving way to grey metal and exposed pipes.  
  
"It should be right up here..." Alfred told him as they rushed onward.  
  
Arthur could feel a bloom of hope flurry to life in his chest, but as they rounded a corner both men froze.  
  
The barrel of some kind of gun was trained on them as the beta woman--Elizaveta--stared out at them coldly. She sighed, sounding almost exasperated.  
  
"You didn't honestly think it would be that easy, did you?"


	33. Passion

Arthur moved forward to shield his mate from the beta with the gun, Elizaveta watching them with sharp eyes as he positioned himself in front of Alfred. Whether or not the omega was still in heat, he was most certainly weakened by the whole ordeal, and Arthur wasn't going to allow him to go through any more if he could help it.  
  
"Hello again..." Arthur said slowly, hands raised to show that he wasn't armed.  
  
"You're not going to escape." She told him, voice low and bitter. "They're all on their way back. Your little distraction didn't work for very long..."  
  
Arthur had no idea what she was talking about but now wasn't the time to ask questions. The gun in her hands was a polished sheen and, considering how Alfred had reacted to it before, he knew it had to be a formidable weapon. Still, he said nothing to her words, only standing there, motionless.  
  
Her brow twitched. "Don't try anything." She warned, tone pitched with just enough edge to hide her own nervousness.  
  
"You..." Arthur looked at her, voice soft, "really love children, don't you?"  
  
The beta faltered, visibly taken aback.  
  
 _Bingo_.  
  
She scowled at him. "What makes you think something like that?" She asked, readjusting her grip on the gun.  
  
"Well," He walked forward a step, watching as a she hesitated, "you're angry because you can't bear any... aren't you?"  
  
There was something about a the sudden flash in her eyes that said he'd hit the nail on the head, but, before he could feel any sort of triumph over that fact, there was a sudden, loud hissing noise and he stumbled back slightly, the burn in his shoulder making his knees wobble.  
  
She had shot him.  
  
It hurt-- _oh god_ , did it hurt. It felt like he was being scalded from the inside out and he could hear Alfred yell his name and the feeling of his omega's hands but he shoved him back with his other arm. Alfred protested and tugged at him and Arthur nuzzled his cheek momentarily and nipped his neck, "Stay." He told him.  
  
He was so very grateful when Alfred did as he was told, looking pale and haggard in that warn, dirtied nightgown they'd left him in. His eyes were wide and an impossible shade of blue--bright and vulnerable--but he stayed.  
  
Arthur looked at Elizaveta again, not even bothering to acknowledge the blood soaking through his deep violet jacket. His outfit marked him as an omega's mate--he was certain the meaning was not lost on her.  
  
"You said you were human." He told her, walking forward again, but this time with his arms at his sides. He was just looking at her, eyes sympathetic. "It hurts though, doesn't it?"  
  
"What?" She said, glaring. "Your wound?"  
  
"No, your heart."  
  
He could see her swallow. He could see her hands quivering. She was _angry,_ but he'd fished free the reason...  
  
She was the least calm individual he'd met from this facility-- which had given away her depth of feeling. It was so easy to reason out why. Human nature at its best-- predictable no matter what the time period.  
  
But within him was a calm rush of adrenaline and testosterone. He had a mate to protect. Nothing else was important. They couldn't defeat this enemy with force, so this was their only hope.  
  
"You're a fucking moron." She told him.  
  
And then he was forced to recoil again, if only slightly, as she shot him in the arm.  
  
But she'd aimed for a limb rather than his organs. She was weakening.  
  
"It's true though, isn't it?" He asked her. "My older sister loved children so much, even though she was a beta. She died in childbirth, trying to have one of her own..." He could feel his own voice go tight at that. She had been the only one of his siblings to really care for Arthur. After that, well... he had never had any regrets being cryogenically frozen. There hadn't been anything left to lose.  
  
"Your... sister?" The beta repeated, uncomprehending.  
  
Arthur smiled slightly, still approaching her slowly like she were an injured bird. "I'm from the year 2025." He told her. The shock that rippled across her face convinced him that no one had told her.  
  
"But that's impossible." Her eyes were wide. "You're lying-- no one frozen in that time survived!"  
  
He shook his head. "I'm not."  
  
"Don't mess with me!" Her voice was emotional--volatile. She gestured with the gun.  
  
"You want children, don't you?" He said quietly, only a few meters from her now. "I can't say that I understand how it is, exactly, that you feel, but..." He used his good hand to place it over his heart, the other hanging limp and bleeding at his side. Droplets were pooling on the floor in gleaming, dark puddles. "I can imagine. It hurts, doesn't it?"   
  
She was biting her lip now, but he carried onward.   
  
"You see omegas with this ability that they take for granted. You've heard of alphas who were careless with their power. And yet no one..." He was so close now that the gun was pressing into his chest and she pulled her arms in slightly as he reached out and ran his fingers along the side of her hair, "thought of the betas who just wanted to be mothers and fathers too..."  
  
"I'll shoot you!" She said, but there were tears welling in her eyes, thick and moist and wet, and her features were turbulent as she tried to bite back the swelling of emotion within. "I will!"  
  
If she did, she would kill him. They both knew that.  
  
"I want to help you." Arthur told her, voice earnest. "She had long hair like you, you know. My sister, that is. Hers was red like fire and she just... she just wanted nothing more than to have a child." He could feel the press of the gun to his chest as it trembled. "And now I want to protect my mate, who bears my child." A pained look came across her features and he could see the finger on the trigger tighten, although it didn't fire. "And I want to help you."  
  
The weapon fell to the ground in a careless clatter.  
  
Elizaveta collapsed into him with broken sobs and Arthur wrapped his arm around her, turning to see Alfred smiling softly at him, cheeks streaked with tears. Somehow the sentiment in his words had touched his mate's heart too.  
  
He stood there and let her cry, unable to help the flood of relief that swept through him. This had been such a tremendous gamble and yet...  
  
And yet she had been so angry for so long. He knew there had to have been a source of hurt in her somewhere. Why it had taken him so long to realize, he didn't know. But he was an alpha and they were all show and charisma...  
  
Maybe he wasn't such a defective specimen after all.  
  
It was only a minute, but the beta composed herself as best she could, pulling away from him with obvious embarrassment--  
  
\--until she noticed the sheer amount of blood that had soaked through his clothing, transferred onto her when she had grasped him so desperately.  
  
"I- I..." Elizaveta's voice was shaky, like a tree battered by wind.  
  
"No time for that now." Arthur said, and that seemed to wake her up.  
  
The beta collected her gun, looking down the hall behind her, all grey cement and metal piping. "You have to get out of here." She said, tone a touch desperate. She glanced at his wounds. "You have to get treated as soon as possible."  
  
"Does that lead out of here?"  
  
"Yes." She confirmed, holstering her gun for the moment. "I'll go with you."  
  
"Are you sure it's wise to actively help us?" Arthur spared her a look, aware of Alfred who was at his side now. The omega was quiet, but his entire being was radiating a concern that was almost palpable--if not outright fear. And those sky blues were trained on his injuries...  
  
Elizaveta just flashed him a sad smile. "This isn't the place for me anymore..." She told him. "Now hurry up, you haven't got much time."  
  
And with that, they started into the darkness.


	34. Light

There was a light at the end of the tunnel.  
  
"There they are!" Called a foreign voice, followed by another that shouted at them. They'd been found by the organization. Elizaveta turned, gunned trained on the two and, in a merciless display she shot them both before they even had a chance to get close.  
  
"Keep moving!" She told Alfred and Arthur when she noticed they had stopped. "You need to climb the shaft to get out."  
  
... And, with Arthur's injured arm, that could take a while.  
  
"What about you?" Alfred asked, openly distressed.  
  
She exhaled laugh, the noise lacking humor. "Don't worry about me. Just go." Elizaveta said, not looking at him as she stared back the way they had come. "You shouldn't meet anyone else on your way out... but I'll hold them off from this end for as long as I can. Just take the first road you see and you'll come to a safe house. You can stock up on supplies there."  
  
"You're sacrificing yourself!?" Arthur balked. "Are you crazy?"  
  
She flashed him a bitter smile. "I don't even know who I am anymore, dear. It doesn't matter what happens to me."  
  
"Don't be stupid--," A gun was leveled at Arthur's face.  
  
"Go," she said, "before I kill you."  
  
Arthur's fists clenched momentarily but then loosened, defeated. "Stay safe." He told her.  
  
"You too." She said.  
  
And with that Arthur and Alfred were off again, running, because at this point they really had no other choice. If they were caught now it was game over and they couldn't let Elizaveta's actions be wasted on hesitation and uncertainty.  
  
Everything was dark, shades of black and dirtied grey, and yet everything became darker still until it was no more than shadows. Suddenly they stumbled to a halt as they came across a dead end, metal bars leading up and up into pitch black.  
  
"You go first." Alfred told him.  
  
Arthur spun to look at him despite the fact that he could hardly make out his features. "What? No-- If I can't make it you'll be stuck behind me--,"  
  
"Exactly." The omega's voice was firm with conviction and, despite the fact that Arthur couldn't see him clearly, he could imagine his expression. "I'm not leaving without you. And if you start to slip I can help. Now move--,"  
  
And then Arthur was shoved into the bars and he grasped the metal with his good hand, wincing as he clutched it with his other. A pain shot through him, his bicep and shoulder protesting, but he had no choice. They had to do this, pain or no pain. They had no choice.  
  
And so he began to climb.  
  
At first adrenaline aided in numbing a good deal of the pain, but as they continued on, the ladder seemingly endless, he started to feel the real brunt of it all, a deep burning sear that tore through him, raw and aching.  
  
Just keep moving. Just  _keep moving_. He chanted to himself, gritting his teeth through the sharp jolts as he thought of Alfred below him. He couldn't give up--he couldn't let Alfred be captured. He had to climb, and quickly, so he did, despite how his breath was coming in short gasps and despite how his head spun. He had to keep going for Alfred's sake.  
  
And then his hand slipped--the injured one, and he yelped as he hung there from one arm, his fingers having lost their grip from the blood that slicked them.  
  
"Arthur!" And then Alfred was there, pulling him back to the railing and taking some of his weight off of the single hand that had held on, guiding him into a steady climb again. There was a noise, like a choked sob and then, "D- don't scare me like that..."  
  
A fire burned to life in the alpha's chest. He wanted nothing more than to hold his mate--to soothe away the tears and hurt. "I'm sorry." He managed, throat dry.  
  
"Just move. It can't be too much further." The omega told him, perhaps more for the Alfred's sake than his own. It was a mantra. Just keep going and you'd get there eventually, right? Just pull through the darkness and find the light. It was their only hope now.  
  
They continued on, minutes like hours, until, suddenly, his head hit something hard and solid with a clang.  
  
"Ow!"  
  
"What is it?" Alfred asked, concern heavy in his voice.  
  
"I hit something-- I think this is the exit." Arthur was quick to explain. He fumbled for feeling with his wounded arm, some kind of latch meeting his fingers. He gripped the metal, hissing audibly at the spasm that went through him as he used that hand to pry it open, his good arm keeping him looped to the metal ladder.  
  
And then, with a rusted groan and a whoosh, the top came open, the sudden onslaught of light causing both men to recoil.  
  
Once they had adjusted slightly, Arthur pulled himself out onto the dirt, not sure if he was surprised to see that this exit lead to what seemed to be the middle of nowhere. There was dried out grass and sparse trees, but, for the most part, it was red, red dirt. Alfred followed after him and shut the exit behind them, the metal circle clanking back into place.  
  
For a moment they just stood there, panting, and then Arthur felt his knees give out as he laughed a breathless, giddy noise. "We did it..." He felt woozy now--exhausted--but they were free. They had escaped.  
  
Alfred knelt, brushing a kiss along his cheek before pulling him back onto his feet. "We have to keep going." He said. "Do you you think you can make it until we get to the shelter?" Those eyes were on his wounds again, openly distressed at the sight of the crimson stained cloth.  
  
Arthur shrugged off the concern, "Let's go." He said, wobbling on his feet slightly even as he took his first step.   
  
Alfred ducked under his good arm, allowing Arthur to lean against him as they began to move together. The alpha gave him an appraising look, the omega's hair knotted and mussed, face a sheen of sweat under the sun. "You're gorgeous..." He murmured, finally able to see him under what felt like natural light-- not the soft glow of dim bulbs or the bright glare of white halls.  
  
The omega didn't look at him, too focused on moving them forwards. "Don't say that-- you'll worry me. I'm a mess."  
  
"I'm already worrying you." The alpha pointed out. "And you face right now is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen."  
  
"Yeah, well you'll worry me  _more_." He corrected. "You'd have to have a fever to think something like that." And the Alfred paused, stopping momentarily. "You don't, do you?"  
  
Arthur pressed his forehead to Alfred's. "Do I feel warm?"  
  
"No..." The omega said as he pulled away, expression haunted now. "You feel cold." And then, "You're not supposed to feel that cold."


	35. Dark

"What?" Arthur said, not comprehending.  
  
Alfred pulled him forward, this time looking a whole new level of tense. "Let's just keep going. We'll get there soon and then I can treat you."  
  
"I'm cold?" He asked softly, mind woozy as he latched onto the subject.  
  
The omega's expression appeared slightly tormented. "You... You've always been warmer than me. _Always_." He swallowed.  
  
Arthur nuzzled the side of his head. "Love, I'll be fine." He assured him. "I won't die on you out here."  
  
Alfred's breath hitched and his eyes watered but his jaw tightened as though he refused to shed tears. "You won't die." The omega said. There was no question in his words-- it was a statement. It was solid fact.  
  
"I won't die." Arthur replied, echoing the sentiment.  
  
For a few minutes they walked in silence, but eventually a road came into view just over a hill and they both exhaled in relief as though they had been holding their breath. "It shouldn't be much longer now." Alfred said.  
  
Arthur was beginning to see spots creeping into the edges of his vision, but he said nothing.  
  
And then, once again, there was a strange silence between them as they continued on, both tense with conflicting feelings of fear and hope.  
  
"You..." Alfred's voice broke the silence and jolted Arthur out of the daze he hadn't been aware that he'd slipped into. "You said... You said back there that I bore your child..." The omega said slowly, as if he wasn't sure how to broach the topic. As though he wasn't sure he  _wanted_  to. "What did you mean?"  
  
Arthur had forgotten about that, but now that Alfred was asking him he couldn't very well lie. "Your scent...  _changed_..." He said, eyes trained on their feet as they padded along the dirt road.  
  
"Isn't that because I'm your mate now...?" Alfred said, squeezing him slightly with the arm that was wrapped around his waist. "I read in a book that I'll faintly smell of you."  
  
"It's different. I can't explain it..." Arthur said. "I... I could be wrong..."  
  
"We only knotted once." The omega added, sounding slightly remorseful. "I don't want to... to bear a child of that place..."  
  
Arthur turned his head sharply and bit his ear--  _hard_. The omega yelped, releasing him, and the alpha stumbled slightly and fell.  
  
"Shit--! Arthur--," Alfred was at his side at once, but jerked back at the venomous look he received.  
  
"It doesn't matter  _where_." Arthur said, feeling the pulsing ferocity of alpha in his veins as he picked himself up off the ground. "It doesn't matter  _when_  or  _how_." He growled. "If it's  _ours_ \--if it's born of our love and blood and sacrifice--then I can't think of it as anything less than a blessing."  
  
"Arthur, I didn't mean--,"  
  
"I know." The alpha cut him off, swallowing. He was starting to feel tired again as the temporary burst of energy fled him all too soon. "It's just... I don't care what the circumstances were-- if you're pregnant with my child then I will love it and that's all there is to it."  
  
The omega approached him, head tilted submissively, and when Arthur didn't react he looped his arm around his shoulder again, this time half-hugging him. "I'm sorry."  
  
"It's fine, love." Arthur said, nuzzling him.  
  
And then everything was okay again and Alfred kissed him fiercely, Arthur returning the gesture as well as he could. "Let's keep going." The omega said.  
  
"Yes, let's."  
  
  
  
It was nearly nightfall when they reached the safe house.  
  
After several hours of walking, Alfred and Arthur collapsed onto the bare mattress tucked in the corner of the shelter, only sparing the energy to have grabbed one of the bottles of water from a supply box. Alfred swiped open the tab and nudged Arthur, "C'mon. You have to drink."  
  
The alpha groaned, his body heavy and eyelids weighted. He just wanted to sleep...  
  
"Arthur,  _please_."   
  
And there was that pleading tone that the omega was so very good at. Arthur sat up slightly lifting his head into the bottle as Alfred offered it to him. He drank clumsily, the liquid running down his chin and neck, but the cool refreshment soothed his parched mouth and he was greedy, only collapsing again once he'd had his fill.  
  
The bottle seemed to refill itself, a function possible by compressing the molecules into some kind of microspace within the bottom. The further from the top, the more compressed the water would be. Luckily there were several such bottles here, although Arthur wasn't quite sure how much water actually fit into one of them.  
  
"You should really stay awake..." Alfred told him, but through the fog of grogginess his voice sounded distant and it echoed.  
  
"I'm 'wake..." He mumbled in his defense.  
  
The omega sighed and Arthur felt a hand press to his cheek and forehead. "You're colder now. I need to treat your wounds..."  
  
"Mm..."  
  
"Can you lean up so I can get your jacket off--?"  
  
"Mmhm..." Arthur murmured, but he didn't move.  
  
"Arthur?"  
  
The world around him was beginning to fade, even Alfred's voice drifting away, quieter and quieter--  
  
Until nothingness.


	36. Today

When he next awoke it was to the feeling of something cool and damp on his forehead and he groaned slightly, shifting under the wetness as he exhaled a raspy breath of air.  
  
"Arthur!" The voice was jarring, reverberating in his head, and he winced, eyes still pinned shut as though that could have somehow protected him against the onslaught of noise. The owner of the voice must have noticed his discomfort as it softened into a painfully quiet, "Arthur--?"  
  
"Alfr'd..." He mumbled, opening his eyes into a wary squint. The room was dimly lit, thankfully, so it didn't hurt too much to look up into the fretting omega's face.  
  
" _Oh thank god_ \-- I was so worried--," And then, seemingly without warning, his mate's relieved expression crumpled into one of agony as he leaned over to clutch at him--gently--face pressing up close to his neck as though desperate for his scent.  
  
Arthur breathed in Alfred's soft aroma, the gentle and luring smell punctuated by something else now-- something that made him want to hold his mate close and never let him go. It was a trace that bespoke of immeasurable vulnerability.  
  
An omega with child...  
  
Alfred was sobbing against him, breath hitching in gasps, and Arthur nuzzled him, still feeling too weak and not quite having the energy to move his arms.  
  
"I'm so glad you're okay." His mate gasped, kissing him on his cheek, his lips, his brow, his nose, and rubbing against him, mingling their scents with a desperate need for reassurance.  
  
"I'm here..." Arthur managed, hoarse. "It's okay."  
  
And within moments the omega had water to his lips and he drank and drank, working his mouth as the cup was moved away and he felt the dry feeling leave him.  
  
Finally he spared a glance to the room he was in and felt an odd feeling of befuddlement coil around him at all the various machines and devices that lined the walls. If he could have hazarded a guess, he might say it was medical in nature just by the context of it all. "We were rescued--?"  
  
" _Yes_ ," Alfred said, leaning against the bedside as if the draw to be close to him was too much to bear. "The next morning they found us, finally." Arthur looked at him and the omega continued as though having read the question in his eyes, "The device you put in my ear didn't work at long range--something interfered with it--but..." He bit his lip, "someone left them an anonymous tip."  
  
"Elizaveta..." Arthur breathed, suddenly immensely grateful to the beta. He wondered if she were okay.  
  
"Or..." The omega said, fiddling with the blanket. "Kiku."  
  
The alpha glanced at him, blinking.  
  
"He was... he was the one who carted me around everywhere--places we didn't _need_ to go." Alfred was staring at the blankets. "Places like the chamber full of alphas. And the exit. He was another omega--the only one I ever saw there. I was just beginning to go into heat and I thought it was odd, but... I think he was trying to help me." A pause. "Us."  
  
"Dark hair and eyes?"  
  
"Yeah. You met him?"  
  
"Yes." Arthur said, trying to recall an image of him. "Both then and the first time I was captured."  
  
Alfred hummed at that and the alpha was relieved to see that the omega had calmed down. "He told me he normally specializes in brainwave manipulation, you know, but they use him to study the effects of experiments on different sectors of the mind..."  
  
Arthur felt his brow furrow, not really caring too much what it was that the omega did.  
  
"Which means that he's the one who gave you the ability to speak our language, most likely. Probably just for your own benefit."  
  
The alpha glanced at him now, eyes wide. And then he relaxed as he absorbed this information. "I... see." Arthur looked at Alfred again, suddenly feeling more energized. "Tell me everything that's happened. How long has it been? Did they search the lab? Do you know if either Elizaveta or Kiku survived?"  
  
Alfred was quiet, still busying his hands with idly working the blanket in between his fingers, consumed with thought. To be honest, he looked  _tired_. "Well... It's been two weeks."  
  
"Two weeks!" Arthur said, jerking up, but Alfred pressed him back down against the inclined mattress.  
  
"You..." The omega hesitated. "You lost a lot of blood. _A lot_. And... And alphas have a different blood type than omegas, so..."  
  
"I'm alive though..." Arthur said with wonder, not sure what to make of this.  
  
Alfred smiled at him. "They managed to get the alphas from the lab. A few of them had your blood type and happily donated after it was explained to them..."  
  
"So they're okay? _Alive?_ " Arthur's head swam. "I'm not the last? I don't underst--,"  
  
"They were frozen, like you." The omega said slowly, carefully. "They're all from different time periods. Apparently they had been stored there for some time." He grinned slightly. "Some even know English. The find of the century, if you ask me." He hesitated. "Well-- after  _you_  of course."  
  
"Why were they there? I thought I was the last..."  
  
"I don't know." Alfred said honestly. "There was no data that they could salvage from the lab-- it had all been purged by the time they got there. Moving all of those tubes would have jeopardized the contents, so I guess they just abandoned them..."  
  
Arthur felt a sudden surge of relief so intense that all he could do was stare at the ceiling in a daze. It felt like the pressure of the world had been on his shoulders and was suddenly lifted, which, to be fair, was fairly accurate. "I'm not the only one." He said, trying to absorb this fact. He wanted to pinch himself.  
  
In fact he had to-- he had to make sure it wasn't a dream--  
  
He lifted his hand up, the sheets falling away, and...  
  
He stared.  
  
Alfred leaned against him, hugging him gingerly. "I'm sorry." He murmured. "They couldn't save your arm."  
  
Arthur could hardly comprehend the words as he moved the cybernetic limb-- flawless, marble-white fingers moving as he shifted it. It acted like his old arm. It  _felt_  like his old arm. "I..."  
  
"They can make one that looks more humanoid if you want--?"  
  
"No, I just..." Arthur swallowed. " _Wow_."  
  
"I know. I'm sorry. It was just-- without blood we couldn't-- they had to cut it off due to tissue death and--..."  
  
"I- I get it." Arthur felt his stomach lurch. "It's okay. We're safe. You're safe. That's all that matters."  
  
Alfred leaned over to nuzzle him again and this time the alpha leaned back into it, embracing him until he was half onto the bed and in his arms. He breathed in deep that altered scent--it smelled like Alfred and himself and their child and his head felt like it was full of cotton. "You're pregnant, aren't you?"  
  
"Yes." Alfred exhaled into his ear, making Arthur shiver. "My heat never came back because I had conceived."  
  
"Are you happy?"  
  
The omega laughed softly, sounding emotional. "What kind of question is that? _Of course_ I'm happy." He pulled away slightly and, indeed, he was teary-eyed. "I'm carrying your son after all. He's an alpha, even."  
  
Arthur blinked. "You can already tell--?"  
  
"The pregnancy test gives all of that information." Alfred was smiling now and Arthur thought he looked positively  _glowing_. "Blue eyes, but your hair-- I don't know how accurate that is. Genetically his eyes _should have_ been green." A pause. "As well as your brows, from what it read..."  
  
The alpha felt a laugh bubble up in him. "How very _unfortunate_..." He said without remorse. "I'll have you know that my eyebrows are a prestigious family heirloom. Mark of a true Kirkland."  
  
Alfred was just shaking his head, tears that had beaded in his eyes overflowing onto his cheeks. They were happy ones that matched his smile and fogged the thin layer of his glasses.  
  
Arthur leaned in and wiped the wetness from the omega's face with his non-cybernetic hand, the warmth of Alfred's skin beneath his fingers reassuring. "You know..." He said, feeling a peculiar surge of affection within him that was becoming so much more _normal_ the more time he spent with this man. "With the other alphas around, you don't need to share me anymore. I can just be yours-- and only yours."  
  
The omega's breath hitched momentarily and Arthur thought he looked so fragile that he just might break. "Are you... are you sure, I--,"  
  
"Alfred, love." Arthur said, running a finger down his cheek. "Be selfish. You waited so long for me, didn't you? Well now I'm yours."  
  
The omega laughed, shook his head, and then laughed again. "I'm such an idiot, but just the thought of sharing you--,"  
  
"So don't."  
  
Alfred smiled, another one of those overly emotional ones. "Mine." He murmured, crying anew as he put his palms to Arthur's cheeks and felt the warmth there. "All mine. My wonderful, English-speaking alpha. All mine."  
  
Arthur tugged him forward and nipped the omega's skin through his shirt where he knew the mating mark to be. Alfred keened softly as the alpha tipped his head and murmured into his ear,  
  
"You're mine too."  
  
  
  
  
  
Selfish. Shameless. In love.  
  
Suddenly thirty-seven alphas came to exist at once in the world, the era of plague giving way to one of hope.  
  
It was a new age.   
  
And this time Arthur was ready for it.


	37. Tomorrow

_Date: 04 July XX16_  
Weather: Muggy [I think the weatherman's wind generator broke again, the daft twit.]  
  
Dear Journal,  
  
Alfred is pregnant again. He's rather sore of it this time, I'm afraid, but the results came in this morning and it seems that now we're in for another one. That'll make the third and, while I know he hates being considered a baby factory, I know he's secretly happy even if it means morning sickness and swollen feet all over again. Luckily, Francis found a delightful nanny, somehow, so it should ease some of the pressure of it all. Alfred means well, but he simply doesn't have enough arms for three and, while I'm home half the time, there's just no helping the other half. He needs help, that's all there is to it.  
  
Christ, I'm rambling. I haven't written in here in ages, so I'm at a loss for what to say, really. Things just haven't been the same since Matthew moved away. He always kept me so organized...  
  
"Da', what are you doing?" Came a soft voice, and Arthur looked up from his tablet, blinking down into the inquisitive blue eyes of their son.  
  
"Writing in my journal." He told the five-year-old, gesturing him up into his arms. The tiny alpha took to him eagerly, curling up in his lap.  
  
His hair was sandy and wild, like Arthur's, framing blue eyes beneath what were looking to be thick brows. "Why?" He asked.  
  
"So I can keep track of everything that happens. Records are important, after all." He told him, flipping back through the pages to some of the entries with pictures. The images popped up, three-dimensional and as crisp as if it were the very scene itself. "See, there's your sister." He said, smiling.  
  
The boy wrinkled his nose. "She's throwing up on Mum."  
  
"Why yes, she is." Arthur said, snickering to himself. He'd taken that one, having had the experience by then to capture the lovely look of abject horror on his mate's face.  
  
His son snuffed, disinterested and a little disgusted, and turned the page away himself with a tiny hand, fingers swiping at air, flipping through until he found another picture. This time he blinked at it. "What's this?"  
  
Arthur ruffled his hair with his human hand, letting the tablet rest in the artificially warm fingers made of white plastics. He never did bother to get one that looked like it were real skin--he thought it a bit too weird.   
  
Besides, having a robot arm was kind of neat, really, in a juvenile sort of way.  
  
"That's our wedding." He said.  
  
"Wedding?" The boy repeated, blinking. And then he cocked his head. "Mum's belly is swollen."  
  
"He was pregnant with you." Arthur corrected.  
  
"He was?"  
  
"He was."  
  
The boy marveled at this for all of a second before looking at his father. "Da'-- Mum said you need to help with the decorations. Uncle Kiku is coming and he wants everything ready before he gets here."  
  
"Ah, yes..." Arthur let the boy gently off of his lap before stretching and compacting the tablet down to put into his pocket. "I lost track of time." He said, glancing at his now long empty cup of tea.  
  
"He's a bit livid." The smaller alpha piped up, looking amused.  
  
Arthur frowned lightly. And then, "How long ago did he tell you to fetch me--?"  
  
The boy wriggled, mischievous. "Two hours ago."  
  
Leveling him with an unimpressed look, Arthur sighed. "Boy, what have you done to me?"  
  
Before he could do or say anything further, his son scampered off to cause mischief elsewhere as Arthur ran a hand through his hair, aware that it was likely that Alfred had been dragging around their crying daughter for the better part of the morning.  
  
Yet there was something wonderfully serene about everything, even as he stepped out into the garden and immediately received an earful as the omega practically threw their daughter at him and stormed off, grumbling about how it was his birthday and how he shouldn't  _need_  to be working as hard as he was. It was like this every year, Arthur had found out, as the prince insisted on making certain that everything was  _just right_ , down to the very last firework.  
  
It was blessed, familiar routine.  
  
Yes, life was perfect.  
  
Every wonderful day of it.  
  
  
  
  
He would just have to finish that journal entry tomorrow.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello,
> 
> You made it to the end! I have to admit, this story was incredibly difficult for me to write, so I appreciate every one of you that came this far, truly. I hope the journey here was an enjoyable one.
> 
> This was the first multi-chapter fanfiction I began when I started writing on the kink meme a few months ago, so it's a little exciting for me that it's completed. The political nature of the plot was very difficult for me to work with, but I did my best. I'm satisfied with the end, if nothing else.
> 
> I know some of you might have questions regarding specific elements of the universe. I'm sorry that I couldn't more adequately cover everything, but feel free to ask any questions you have now and I'll answer them.


End file.
